Legend of Zelda: Twisting Threads
by Sargent Snarky
Summary: Link returns to Hyrule just in time for everything to go wrong.The Seals are broken, and Ganondorf returns, but not alone Majora's back,too.As usual, it's up to Link to save Termina and Hyrule. At least this time he's not alone. discontinued
1. Prologues

**The Legend of Zelda: Bridge Between the Worlds (Temporary Title)**

_Co-authored by Umi Kanshisha and Sargent Snarky_

Summary: Link returns to Hyrule only to have everything go wrong. And Hyrule is not all that's in danger. Tatl and Tael return, bringing warning of the impending doom of Termina, and the return of Majora… Not to mention the return of Ganondorf. With the aid of an interesting assortment of companions (including -three- fairies) Link must embark upon yet another quest waged across the two parallel domains to save both. Lucky him…

_Disclaimer: Neither one of us owns the Legend of Zelda franchise. All right? We _wish_ we did, but that doesn't count._

_Umi: Although, I do own it in my dreams. When I'm sleeping, the magnificent Legend of Zelda series, Golden Sun series, and a number of other anime's belong to me. And then I wake up, and I don't own it anymore…_

_Disclaimer take 2: We've borrowed some ideas from the magnificent author_ Rose Zemlya - a.k.a. Lady Rose, _mostly concerning the Sheikah, the Gerudo, and details concerning the loverly Hyrule. And possibly brief mentions of some of the characters in her story – but only brief mentions! O.o The only thing plot-wise we've borrowed from her… I shan't mention until we actually get to it. Since mentioning it would be somewhat of a spoiler for later chapters. _

_Disclaimer the third: Umi wrote the prologues for Draconis, Karin, Tatl & Tael, the Happy Mask Salesman, Tingle, and Anko & Raisuke. Snarky wrote the ones for Zelda, Nila, and Zyr. She would have written one for Link, but was a) lazy, b) thought that the beginning of the first chapter served as enough of a prologue and c) the entire story, pretty much, follows him. What does he need more screen time for?_

_Ok… So here are the prologues, listed in the following order:_

_Happy Mask Salesman_

_Tatl & Tael_

_Tingle_

_Zyr_

_Draconis_

_Karin_

_Zelda_

_Nila_

_Anko & Raisuke_

_Zyr_

_Ok? Ok…_

_

* * *

_

**Happy Mask Salesman Prologue**

He knew it as soon as it had happened. He didn't know _how_ he knew it, exactly, but he supposed it had something to do with the fact that he had once been possessed by the mask itself.

The Happy Mask Salesman stopped in his tracks, staring at the forest around him. Perhaps he was expecting to see a fairy, or a demon of some sort; whatever he was expecting to find, he wasn't finding it, and it made his unease rise.

Majora's Mask was being worn again. He knew it, he just didn't know where it was.

And even worse yet, he knew that this time – since the seal had been broken so soon after it had been put in place – was going to be much worse than the last.

"It gives the wearer unlimited power to fulfill ones deepest desires at the cost of ones free will…" The Happy Mask Salesman whispered, basically repeating his same words from before. He trembled slightly – either in excitement or fear, he wasn't sure which – and then took off running at a speed one would not have expected from him, considering the fact that he was wearing an overly large sack full of masks on his back.

He knew who he had to find. There was only one person who could stop the curse of Majora. After all, that one person had stopped it before – why not again?

The Happy Mask Salesman was on a quest to locate the Hero of Time…

* * *

**Tatl and Tael Prologue**

"Tael! I'm back!"

A voice that sounded more like a bell ringing called through the forest, belonging to a small, glowing fairy. She was obviously female, though that did not mean she was delicate – or cute. In fact, most described her as "not cute", "mean", or "rude". Not that she cared. Nothing ever affected Tatl.

Short, spiky blonde hair fell like a mop on her head, just barely touching her shoulders and shadowing her pale, yellow eyes. Her skin was as white as moonlight, and her wings were large and clear. The glow that was surrounding her was normally white, but if you ticked her off enough, it would glow golden.

"Hey, sis!"

This voice was deeper and might remind someone of a shadow. It, naturally, belonged to the little brother of Tatl, a small, short fairy. This easy-going fairy had unruly maroon hair, which sometimes fell down to cover his odd eyes; one of them was red, whilst the other was purple. His skin was slightly tanned, and his wings had something of purple sparkles in them.

Though the fairies were siblings – close siblings, in fact – they were as different as night and day.

Though maybe that's why they were so close. Or it could have been the fact that they were both orphans. Whatever it was, they were hardly ever seen apart.

"Hey," Tatl replied, brushing some of her hair away from her eyes. She then noticed their friend – Skullkid – who was sitting in a melancholy fashion upon one of the stumps. "What's up with him?"

"Oh…" Tael turned to look at Skullkid, letting out a sigh. "I'm… Not exactly sure. He's been like that since you went off to baby-sit Anju's son."

Tatl frowned, and then rolled her eyes. "And you didn't bother to ask him about it?"

"No…" Tael replied slowly, looking at the ground and shifting his weight. Groaning, Tatl zipped over. "Sis! Wait!"

"Yo, Skullkid!" Tatl snapped, hitting him on the head a few times. Skullkid slowly looked up at her with dull eyes. "What's up?"

"…I…" Skullkid trailed for a moment before sighing. "I want a name…"

"You already have a name," Tatl sighed. "It's Skullkid, remember? Geez, you're being as thick as Tael."

"Hey!" Tael yelped, wounded.

"It was only a joke," Tatl told him reassuringly.

"I know my name…" Skullkid was speaking so slowly that Tatl was about to tell him to hurry up, though he interrupted her before she could. His reply made both of their stomachs drop considerably, and a sickening dread filled the voids they made.

"It's Majora."

* * *

**Tingle Prologue**

He had never thought he'd be as lonely as he was at that moment. His father had finally disowned him, and his brothers had basically done the exact same thing – no matter how much he tried to convince them that he was right. So, even though he had always been apart from them anyway, thirty-five year old Tingle was feeling as low as he had in his life.

Letting out a sigh, he stared at the confetti in his hand. Tingle hadn't seen a single fairy since Link had been around; add that to the fact of the fight he'd had earlier with his father, and he just didn't feel like his magic words would help him anymore.

A distant conversation suddenly caught his ears. Head snapping up, Tingle's eyes widened as he saw a creature run through the entrance to South Clock Town, and two _fairies_ zip after him; one was red and purple, and the other was white.

Tingle's heart skipped a beat. Surely those fairies wouldn't want to hang around that creature; they would have to go with him! Besides, they were perfect for him; two of them would definitely show his father and brothers that he had been right after all.

Trembling with excitement, Tingle tossed the confetti up into the air. "Tingle, Tingle, Koo-loo Limpah!" He yelled, blowing hard into a small tube in his hand. A balloon blew out behind him, and carried him up into the air. From his spot near the clouds, he could track the fairies… And make them his.

* * *

**Draconis Prologue**

It took his best effort not to scream.

The sword was thrust through his stomach so far that the point of it came out his back, and the one who thrust it was now twisting it; pulling it up through his chest and listening with a sick satisfaction at the squishing noises that were being made.

Blood was spilled onto the ground from the ruined stomach, and was dripping from the sword point. The one holding the sword finally jerked it roughly out, letting the nineteen year old fall backwards onto the grass.

Breathing was hardly an option. Though his rib cage had protected his lungs, the large wound in his stomach – and that rose through his chest – was so painful that his breaths were nothing more than ragged gasps. Basically all of his energy was spent as he reached up and pulled something off from around his neck, tossing it into the night air.

The one with the sword gazed at the object with cold blue-green eyes, and reached his hand out to catch it. As soon as his hand extended, a screech resounded from the air and a red-tailed hawk swooped down, catching it around his neck. With a couple short flaps from his wings, he rose back into the air and out of the murderer's reach.

"That's fine," The murderer whispered softly, "I have no need for such a paltry trinket."

He then walked beside the fallen one, who – shockingly enough – was still taking in those ragged gasps of air. Squatting down, he examined the hole for a moment and then moved his eyes to the boys face – surprised to see defiant – yet foggy – golden eyes staring at him.

"Pity it had to end this way," he said sadly, shaking his head, "I didn't want to have to kill you."

"Heh. If you hadn't wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have." The boy replied, coughing weakly.

"True. But I wasn't intending on killing you at first. I – no, Lord Ganondorf – wanted your skills and your powers. All you had to do was agree to serve him."

"I don't serve anybody… 'Cept for those in my… Country." The boy replied. "And… Your lord… He's evil, I know it… Plus… I don't have any powers… That would have been any… Use…"

"Ah, but see, that's where you're wrong." The murderer whispered softly. "I come from your country – from Westaria."

"You…" The boy looked surprised, but it wasn't easy to tell as his eyes kept fluttering shut.

"Yes," he replied, "I know who you are, and the strength that you have. You could be great, you know. You have the potential to unlock a lot more magick than can be taught at that school that you went to. In fact, your entire family has been known for being able to do that. Why do you think you were accepted into school without any sort of talent test?"

The boy didn't answer at first, but finally managed, "Name one talent…"

"Necromancy," The murderer answered simply. "You could also summon spirits, integrate with them, force possession on others—"

"That's all… Dark and… Forbidden…"

"Yes, because of its power. But don't worry; I'm sure that there are others like you. Your parents would be too old, of course, but if I search long enough, I'm sure I could find someone else."

"No! Leave her…" The boy stopped suddenly, realizing his mistake with wide eyes. The murderer gave a twisted smile.

"Ah, so you admit there's someone else? After I return Lord Ganondorf to this world, I will have to find her. Now, I shall leave you to die—" The murderer rose to his feet, his aquamarine eyes falling on the boys' weapon.

"Beautiful sword…" He muttered to himself, eyes moving over the dragon. "And it fits me perfectly… Since you won't be needing it, I think I'll take it."

Bending down to scoop it up, the murderer jerked backwards with a shout as the hawk once again swooped down – this time racking the murderer's cheek with his talons. Completing a fast swoop, and muttering something to the boy, the hawk dove down and grabbed the sword hilt in his talon's, flapping as hard as he could to get airborne again.

"That's just as well. I have a feeling I'll be meeting up with that blade again soon," The murderer spat, wiping some of the blood off of his gray armor. "And as for that remaining relative of his, I have a feeling I'll meet her soon as well…"

* * *

**Karin Prologue**

A soft sigh escaped the lips of a seventeen year old girl who sat perched on the roof of a ruined building. The buildings were all in ruin around her, and a few corpses littered the streets. As it was, the only building that wasn't in ruin was a large, pearly white building off in the distance – her school.

The school was protected. It always had been. Everyone loved it, and was willing to defend it.

But Westaria was slowly falling apart. With The Sickness – as it was called – killing off the people, the intruders from Lintrien – a neighboring country – were slowly destroying the country.

And such was the result of this town. In a few weeks time, the Lintrienian forces had destroyed buildings, killed people, and stolen money and goods. After all, a destroyed town didn't need it anymore.

The girl sighed, swiping a black and purple strand of hair away from her golden eyes. She hadn't been in the town when it had happened; she had been at the funeral that she and her father held for her mother, who had died because of The Sickness. The funeral had been short, but the downpour that had begun during the ceremony had prevented them from getting back to town in enough time to help defend it. As such, it had fallen quickly.

Hugging her knees, she tried to distract her thoughts away from the one family member who was still around with her – her father. Though he was steadily denying it, he had The Sickness too. And even though he was strong, he would probably live a month at the most. Worse still, she knew deep in her heart that no one would find a cure in that amount of time.

"Tobias… Where are you?" She asked softly, her eyes flicking up to the sky. Her older brother – Tobias – had left the country months ago to go and search for the cure. A prodigy since he was five years old, Tobias was one of the strongest warriors they had. And even though everyone had wanted him to stay – to help with the war— The Sickness was just too big of an illness to ignore. They believed that if anyone could find it, it was Tobias. And so, her brother had left.

She had endured a bad feeling since the day he had left – the feeling that he would not return. And though she tried her best to ignore it, it was there – just like a nagging stomachache. She idolized her older brother, and the fact that he wasn't going to come home was just too hard for her to bear.

But he had left two months ago. Even so, for one of those months he had written letters constantly. Then he had just stopped replying.

Suddenly, her eyes caught on a shape that was flying towards her at seemingly a quick speed. Standing up, she narrowed her eyes and finally realized what it was; a bird carrying what seemed like a sword.

"Atreyu…?" She asked quietly, and her eyes widened as he dropped the sword right over her. "Atreyu!" She cried joyously, almost dancing around in her triumph. "You're back! You're finally…" She looked to the ground, her eyes scanning out, but not seeing anything more than the destroyed country. What she was supposed to be seeing was her brother.

"Tobias? Tobias, where are you?" She called, her overjoyed heart suddenly feeling with dread. "Tobias?"

"He… Isn't here, Karin." The red-tailed hawk swooped down and landed on a tree next to her, his intense eyes staring at her.

"Then where is he?" Karin asked, clutching the sword to her chest.

"He's… Not coming back. Ever."

"No…" Karin snapped her eyes tightly, shaking her head slowly. "No… That can't be…"

"He was approached by another in the dead of night in the land called Termina—" Atreyu went on, deaf to Karin's protests. "—and given an offer. He refused, naturally, and the one who gave him the offer killed him."

"No, no, no…" Karin went on, tears now slipping down her face as she fell to her knees. "No, you're lying, it can't be true… You're lying!"

"Why would I lie?" He snapped, "And why – other than to deliver another letter – would I be here? The flight from Termina to here took me an entire month, Karin. He's—"

"NO!" Karin shouted, pounding one of her fists upon the roof. "SHUT UP – YOU'RE LYING! YOU'RE LYING JUST BECAUSE… BECAUSE…"

"Because what!" He demanded harshly. She raised her teary, golden eyes to lock with his and spat,

"Just because you hate me, and you want to torment me."

"Yes, I don't like you. You're perfectly correct there," He retorted, ruffling his feathers. "I think you're an immature, petty, headstrong, impudent little brat who could never match up to the great man her brother was. You're nothing but a child, and for that I do hate you. But I could never – and would never – use your brother's name to torment you. So for that, you are wrong. He was murdered, Karin. I know that is hard to accept, but he was murdered."

Karin let a few more tears drop before bursting out into shaking sobs. Atreyu didn't do anything – just let her cry it out – but after she seemed to be done he bent and shook his head, letting something of a small totem fall from around it.

"Put that on. He didn't exactly say it, but I know that he would have wanted me to protect you."

"I'll have my own Guardian, thanks," Karin retorted, turning away.

"No, you won't. You're dropping out."

"Excuse me?" She retorted, anger in her voice. "I'm not as stupid as you seem to think, Atreyu. I can graduate."

"You could, yes," He shot back, "but I would think that, after knowing that your brother found out what the antidote was, you'd want to go find it."

"He _what_?" Karin asked in a hushed voice. "What is it?"

"It's called the Philosophers Potion. He didn't know where it was, but he did know that it would cure The Sickness."

Karin stared at the totem for a minute before slipping it around her neck, and then reached for the sword that Atreyu had dropped previously. The hilt of the sword was a deep red, and the silver blade – still holding a comforting sparkle – was engraved the full length by a dragon.

"This was his treasure… The Dragon Blade…" She whispered. Atreyu nodded.

"Yes. His murderer was going to take it, but I knew that he would have wanted you to have it. Little brat or not, you always were his best friend." Karin gave a weak chuckle. "So I took it before the slime that killed him could take it."

"Thank you…" She whispered, and stood up. "I'll have to leave a note for my father – he'll stop me before I can go if I tell him about Tobias – and then we can go…"

And so – an hour later – Karin was at the gates of town with her brother's sword on her back and his Guardian Hawk in the sky. She was merely on foot (all the horses had been killed for food), but something about her seemed surer than it should have been.

"All clear, Atreyu?" She called up. "There aren't any Lintrien warriors out there, are there?"

"No," he called back, "all clear."

Nodding slightly, Karin curled her hands into fists and left the borders of her country.

* * *

**Zelda's Prologue**

She awoke with a violent start, sitting bolt upright, her breath coming in rapid gasps. It was a full five minutes, though, before the Princess Zelda collected her wits enough to realize she was no longer dreaming. Her pulse and ragged breathing returned to normal, albeit slowly. However, the fear did not leave her eyes, at least not entirely. No, the crystaline blue depths were yet suffused with a terror.

This fear, though, was not of something physical, something definate. Instead, it was a vague, unnameable dread of things unknown yet to come; this indefinaility made it all the more portent, all the more terrible. In a way, Zelda wished that whatever was going to happen would just go ahead and get itself the hell overwith, because then, at least, she'd know exactly what it was she feared, and thus she'd be able to do something about it. And yet, whatever it was certainly would be bad. Very bad. She loved Hyrule too much to ever wish anything bad upon it, least of all the... whatever it was that was coming.

Now that she reflected upon the darkness so prevellent in her dreams, it occurred to her that it had a familiar flavor, or at least part of it did. Ganondorf. The Gerudo King, bearer of the Triforce of Power, King of Darkness, now trapped within the void between the Sacred Realm and the physical realm of Hyrule. Or at least that was where he was supposed to be. In truth, he'd found some way to circumvent the seals and re-enter the Sacred Realm, or wander to other planes of existance. Zelda knew as much; as one of the seven Sages, she had to know things like that. But this... this was different.

Mingled with the 'flavor' of Ganondorf, another presense made itself felt strongly. But, it was unfamiliar. It was wild, almost... tribal, in a weird sort of way. It was not of or from Hyrule or the Sacred Realm, but where it was from, she didn't know. Still, according to her dreams, it seemed to know Hyrule; it threatened it, at any rate. And it also seemed to know Link. Or, at least it knew that Link was the one to whom it ought to direct its most potent fury.

The princess rose from her bed, slipping on a silken robe over her thin night gown Pulling it tightly around her to ward of the nighttime chill, she moved over to the window/door to her balcony and opened it. Shivering slightly in the damp, dew-laden air, she stared across Castle Town beyond the castle grounds. She strained her eyes to see beyond the sleeping city, as if by sheer will she could push aside the low mist coating the Hylian Fields and see all of Hyrule. That was, of course, impossible, but she tried nonetheless. After a time in which the veils of distance did not pull themselves aside, Zelda turned her eyes to things closer.

For a long time her cerulean eyes fixed upon the Temple of Time, a strange combination of emotions swirling within. Foremost was her anxiety for Hyrule, but also there was an anxeity for Link... the Hero of Time. He had left four years ago in search of Navi, or so he had said, though Zelda knew there were other reasons besides. However, those reasons were his own, private ones. Well, ok... so his boredom and thirst for adventure were not terribly private, but there were reasons he wouldn't tell to her. Tch. Not like he ever did tell much to her.

Granted, the two were friends, and she liked him very much. As a friend of course. Her blushing would have been fierce, and her denials quite adament if one suggested anything more. Anyway, even after some time, there was still a... gap between them. Something that would eventually need confronting, but neither wanted to do so. She had indeed used Link... It was indeed mostly her fault that he'd endured so much in his short life. And, while he'd mostly forgiven her... he hadn't completely forgiven her. Hell, she couldn't even completely forgive herself for her foolish meddlings... Her naive efforts... Yet, for all her wisdom and knowledge, without Link's determination and sheer inability to give up that they'd ever managed to 'pull it off.'

Now that she thought about him, she decided she missed him. Missed him a lot, actually. When would he return...? She hoped it was soon... before... before the darkness came... Because, without him... it would be hopeless.

A few minutes later, the Princess Zelda was no longer in her room, nor even upon her balcony. No, she had assumed the guise of Sheik and now perched upon the roof, watching the darkness slowly fade, stars giving way to the sun's rise. It wasn't like she was going to get anymore sleep that night anyway...

* * *

**Prologue of Nila**

It was much easier now, than it had been, for Ausranila to teleport to that portion of the Sacred Realm that was still clean and pure, protected by Rauru. Nila, as she was most often called, had certainly improved in her skills, especially under the tutelage of Rauru, the Sage of the Light. He wasn't Sheikah, but he knew more about magic than any of the Sheikah themselves. Few mages existed among the people of the shadows anymore, and those who did – such as Nila and her mother – were few and far enough between that much of the knowledge they once had was lost. Certainly many had the capabilities for a little magic, maybe a spell or two, but only Nila and her Mother remained of those who were true wizards.

Nila was fifteen, soon to be sixteen, though she looked older, in part due to her lengthy silver hair, and in part due to an early development, causing her to be on the curvy side of the spectrum. Silver hair wasn't uncommon among the Sheikah, but Nila's golden eyes were. They were the oddest things, for the iris's were metallic, shining like real gold in the right light. However, the most interesting thing was the contrast they made with her silver hair.

But in the Sacred Realm, Rauru cared nothing for how his pupil looked. No, he cared more for her alertness, quick learning, and innate skills with magic, especially Light magic. It was uncanny how well she learned Light magic, be it lightening bolts or a simple werelight. Sometimes, it made him wonder. Could it be that his time as a Sage was drawing to its close? He hoped not… and yet… to finally rest… that would be nice.

He stood in his usual place as Nila materialized in the center of the platform. "Greetings, child," he said as she bowed, as was proper of a student to a master.

"Good morning, Rauru," she replied, smiling. "What are you teaching today?"

"Something a bit different from anything else I've taught you," he said.

"Oh? What!" she asked, voice eager with anticipation.

However, there was never an answer. Both of them felt a sudden twinge, and Nila knew, somehow, that the Master Sword had been drawn. Rauru froze suddenly, expression shifting to one of anger and disbelief. His eyes moved behind her to a dark shape looming at the edge of the platform.

"You!" he hissed, his kindly voice shifting to a hard, cold one Nila had never heard before. It frightened her, and she could feel Rauru's sheer power. "You are not allowed here! I command you, Ganondorf, to leave!"

A deep, cruel voice laughed, and the chuckle made Nila's skin crawl. "Make me," he hissed. "The seals are weakened, and you are fading. You have not your full power any more. I can tell… The girl… Why don't you tell me who she is, old friend? It's only manners to introduce us…"

"I said LEAVE!"

Nila was nearly forced to leave herself under the force of the command. However, Ganondorf did not move. Instead, he stepped forward, onto to the platform! Into her mind, Nila felt a tendril of thought from Rauru, bidding her leave. She replied that she would not. She would help him. Therefore, she concentrated, trying to add her power to Rauru's. As she concentrated, she could feel his power, too, vying with the pure darkness of Ganondorf, not to mention the Triforce of Power.

Ganondorf just laughed. Suddenly, he was right in front of Nila. She drew her scimitars, ready to attack, meeting his glimmering yellow eyes and glaring. Ganondorf studied her, then shock found its way onto his face amidst the arrogance.

"You," he breathed. "But… she… died… by Maeori."

"Get away from her!" snapped Rauru, stepping forward, moving next to Nila, while pulling her back.

Ganondorf snapped back to himself immediately and laughed. "Well, now… Isn't this just perfect? Ah… the irony of it all. Rauru, your time has ended!"

Suddenly, the darkness pressing all around grew stronger. Then, even as Rauru concentrated on pushing it back, Ganondorf dove forward, hands lengthening into claws and his form shifting to the truth of Ganon. Nila cried out in horror even as the creature stabbed his claws into Rauru, and through Rauru, slashing and coming out several times, leaving a mangled, disfigured and completely unrecognizable mess. The Sage's blood spilled across the platform.

Nila felt incredibly sick, and her knees gave way beneath her. Suddenly, amidst the carnage, a golden medallion gleamed, floated upward and flashed brilliantly. Ganon shrieked in pain, hissing curses as the light pounded at him, temporarily blinding him. However, the medallion also shattered, landing in several pieces in Nila's lap. She stared it for a long moment, before gathering the fragments and tucking them away. The medallion had come to her… She… she was the next Sage of Light. Somehow… that didn't surprise her.

Shakily, she got to her feet, turning to Ganon. She sheathed her blades, suddenly knowing, somehow, what to do. She held her hand palm outward and closed her eyes. Feeling for the Triforce of Power, she concentrated on it, bidding it to heed her command. It did, albeit grudgingly, and Ganon let out a cry of disbelief as his own power, his own piece of Triforce forced him away, though it remained with him.

Nila opened her eyes again, just in time to see the darkness vanish before a different darkness took her, and she collapsed, falling from the Sacred Realm back to Hyrule, to the platform at the entrance to the Shadow Temple where Impa waited, catching the girl as she appeared and taking her back to the Sheikah caverns. Despite her unconscious state, however, Nila heard the Triforce of Power begging to be rid of Ganondorf, begging to be freed that it might find a more deserving wielder, or reunite with it's siblings in stability within the Sacred Realm. And somehow, Nila suddenly knew she had to do it. The question was, then, _could_ she and _how_…

* * *

**Raisuke and Anko Prologue**

Large, puffy white clouds like marshmallows blew across the bright blue sky, giving Hyrule Field a peaceful, calming look. Not many people were out, but those who were certainly enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Well, almost everyone. Running for his life out of Kakariko was a fifteen year old Sheikah boy. He had no idea what had possessed him to go into Kakariko, but he certainly wasn't going to be trying it any time soon.

Narrowing his orange eyes, the boy pulled a kunai from his pouch and spun on his heel, facing the man who stood before him. The forty year old Sheikah was glaring at the boy, and spat,

"Raisuke, you stray, stay out of our village!"

"I wasn't even anywhere near the graveyard! Can't I even just have fun at the archery shop?" Raisuke demanded with irritation and sorrow in his tone.

"No! You're exiled; stay away from us!"

"I wasn't near you!" Raisuke repeated, anger now rising in his eyes. "I was just minding my own—"

"Then mind it somewhere else! You're not allowed anywhere near Kakariko or the Sheikah Tunnels!" With that, the Sheikah raised the Deku Nut and slammed it to the ground – disappearing from view.

Heaving a sigh, Raisuke put his kunai away and turned around, stalking off into the field. True, he had wanted to see some of his family, or maybe one of his few friends that he had managed to gain during his life, but he wasn't about to go anywhere near the graveyard. He had just wanted to spend some time in the Archery shop, but apparently the man who worked there informed the Sheikah in the graveyard immediately. They just couldn't _stand_ to have _him_ anywhere near them.

Looking up, Raisuke realized that he was heading towards Lon Lon Ranch again. This normally wasn't a problem; Malon was his friend, and always helped him out if he needed food or a place to stay and rest. But Malon wasn't there; she was busy delivering milk for the castle while her father was sick. And Ingo – the slimy (in Raisuke's opinion), uptight man who worked for the Ranch – didn't like him, and therefore wouldn't let him in when Malon wasn't there.

Instead, Raisuke turned to look at Castle Town. There was another place where he wasn't always welcomed. True, the Sheikah couldn't kick him out of there, but whenever he ran into a Sheikah that was stationed there he'd receive a look of utmost contempt – or just be ignored. At least, that's how he felt. As such, he tried to stay as far away from Castle Town as he possibly could.

With a sigh, he drew a Deku Nut from his pouch. He supposed he could go visit Lake Hylia; the Zoras didn't have a problem with him, and he didn't feel like visiting the Gorons. And he knew that the day the Gerudo accepted him – an exiled Sheikah or not – would be when Hell froze over.

Raising the Deku Nut – his thoughts switching from place to place rapidly – Raisuke threw it to the ground.

The first thing Raisuke did when he landed was start coughing and sputtering. He fell to his knees, choking on the grainy substance that was clogging his throat. His hands clasped on the ground in front of him, but didn't close on anything but sand.

Panicking now, Raisuke moved his arm to shield his mouth and looked around, realizing with a sickening feeling where he was. The swirling sandstorm and the vast desert plan could only mean one thing: The Haunted Wasteland.

_I knew it was a bad idea to use that when my thoughts were messed up…_ Raisuke thought to himself, and stiffened when he heard female voices:

"How many times have you been told not to go out there, Anko? You're not allowed at the Spirit Temple – quit trying!"

"Nabooru's not the only one that goes out there," Another younger, sullen voice replied. "Some of the other Whites go out there sometimes."

"Yes, but _you're_ not a White. You're a Red. There's a difference. You're in for a bad punishment this time – and next time, you might even get demoted!"

"Even if I get demoted, I'll keep trying."

"And they'll end up locking you up, Anko! The Spirit Temple is off—"

Raisuke's insides became ice as the three Gerudo stopped dead in front of him. Two of them were in Green outfits, and were firmly holding on to one in Red. All three of them looked about as stunned as he was for a half a second; they then pulled their scimitars and started towards him.

Thinking as fast as he could, Raisuke pulled a Deku Nut from his pouch and cracked it. All three of them were blinded for a second, and Raisuke took this as his chance. Pulling a kunai, he grabbed the Red and spun her around, holding her to him and placing his weapon at her throat.

"Don't move," he warned the Greens, who – now that their sight had returned – were glaring burning daggers at him. "If you do, I'll kill her."

The Red – Anko – was frozen. Her scimitar was in her hand, but she wasn't moving; instead, she was merely stiff as he pressed his weapon to her throat. She could see that her sisters were enraged with her; and she didn't blame them. Finally, one of them turned to the other.

"Anko isn't moving; she's just about as worthless as she is a trouble maker. We should kill them both."

"We can't just kill our sister, but we can incapacitate her," the other replied, and the first one nodded. Anko paled; knowing how much trouble she was going to be in when she got back to the fortress. Not only that, but she had frozen up because of a Sheikah; a _male_ Sheikah at that! The shame was unbearable…

"Sorry, but I can't let them hurt you too," Raisuke whispered in her ear. Had she been able to, Anko would have turned around to stare at him incredulously. Drawing yet another Deku Nut, Raisuke cracked it once more.

The pair found themselves at the entrance to Gerudo Valley. Raisuke was about to start blessing the release from sand when Anko tackled him, snarling.

"You bastard! What have you done! You just had to enter our desert, didn't you! What were you there for! Why did you take me out! Now I probably won't ever be able to go back in without the question of treason and possible death!"

"Woah, woah, chill!" Raisuke grabbed her wrists to prevent her continual assault, and then stared directly into her purple eyes.

"First, I just saved your life – or maybe just you from getting wounds. Second, it was an accident. Same goes for your third question. My first answer also matches with your fourth question, and as for the fifth, I'm sorry, but those two seemed bitchy anyway."

Anko pulled one of her hands free and punched Raisuke in the mouth, almost knocking one of his teeth out. "You jerk," she sniffed, "I'll never forgive you for this."

"'Oh thank you, Raisuke, for getting me out of there before they could kill me for freezing up,'" He mocked in a high pitched voice, earning him yet another punch to the chest. "Look, could you at least get off? I really don't want to lay on the ground all day."

Anko reluctantly climbed off, and stared at the desert with sullen eyes. "Now I won't ever get to go back…" She whispered, and then shot Raisuke a glare. "And it's all your fault."

"Listen, I feel bad about getting you exiled from your home. If it makes you feel any better, I'm exiled too." She glared at him, so he went on. "Okay, I guess it doesn't. But I've been living here – anywhere really, I'm sorta homeless – for two years now, and you can live with me until you get the hang off—"

"I'll be fine on my own, thanks," Anko spat coldly. Raisuke shrugged.

"Alright, suit yourself." Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he turned and started to walk off.

"…Wait!" Anko ran after him, crossing her arms. "I am coming with you. Since you kidnapped me, I'm your responsibility, and therefore you are my slave."

"What?" His eyebrows raised as she nodded and shoved him forward.

"You said your name was Raisuke? Good, I'm Anko. You have to do everything I say now at risk of me killing you."

"And if I fight back and you seize up again?"

"Don't think you'll get that lucky," She snarled. "Now, show me around Hyrule."

Convinced that she was just joking – assuming that Gerudo could make jokes – Raisuke nodded and started leading her towards Castle Town. Of course, any trip consisting of just a Gerudo and a Sheikah was sure to be a long one…

* * *

**Zyr's Prologue**

Something was wrong. However, the dawn broke over Ikana Canyon without much ado, as usual. And, as usual, a figure.. a living figure sat upon a precipice facing east, watching the sun climb up over the horizon. I mentioned that he was living, for few within Ikana were indeed living. No, most of Ikana's inhabitants were dead and had been for some time. But this solitary young man - he looked no more than 18 years old - was in actuality, living. However, judging from the color of his skin, one might not think so.

The young man was quite pallid in complexion, though this might come as somewhat of a surprise, considering his dwelling place was somewhat of a desert. However, if one also considered that his attire normally consisted of concealing robes, complete with a hood, and that his 'class', as it were, was that of a ninja, then perhaps the pallor of his skin would not be so shocking. Still, it _was_ pale.

However, one must not think that the pale skin was the oddest thing about this youth. No, that distinction was reserved for his eyes. They were solid green. No, not merely the irises - for he had none to speak of - but the entire eye. Neither white nor black, but merely green. A shifting, bright green that glowed, mind you. Yes, it glowed. Not enough to read a book by, or anything, but they gave off a perceivable light, nonetheless. Kind of eerie, actually...

Anyway, his fine-boned face held a speculative look as he contemplated what precisely was wrong; he chewed through fully upon his thin lips. He absently brushed a loose tendril of his long (very long) black hair out of his eyes. Most of his hair was pulled into a pony-tail, secured with a strip of cloth, but various locks framed his face, some even serving as bangs to brush across his forehead. Friends of his had mentioned that, with his hair down, and with his robes, he did look somewhat like a girl, but he heartily disagreed. His build was all wrong, for one thing. True, he was skinny and not particularly tall, but he wasn't curvy or anything.

Back to the subject at hand, he sat, legs dangling over a cliff that faced east, watching the sunrise and thinking.

"Zyr?" came a soft questioning call.

"Yes, Teia.?" he replied, not bothering to look at who spoke. Zyr knew her well; she was among the dead Garo, the dead guardians who remained, watching over him (the last of the Garo) and watching over Ikana.

"... The elder ones asked me to call you... We all need to speak with you... About... about what's coming... Something dreadful is coming, and..." She broke off as Zyr stood.

"Very well... Tell them I'll be there shortly."

"Zyr... Are you all right? You don't seem yourself."

"No... I'm fine. I think I'm just distracted by whatever it is that's coming. Even then Gibdo feel it, though they can't put a name on it. But I can."

"You can?"

"It's Majora."

"It can't be! That boy... Link! He defeated Majora!"

"But he didn't destroy it. And he only defeated the incarnations of the mask. He never fought the creature, the foul spirit that _is_ Majora. He didn't face that demon fiend that destroyed our people. Or at least he didn't face it in its full power."

"True... But how are you so certain?"

"I can feel it... And I don't think we'll be even remotely able to stop it on our own. I..."

"...What?"

"Teia... I'll have to leave. I'll have to travel to... Hyrule. Yes.. that's where he was from, isn't it? I don't know why, but.. I sense something from there... Something dark. Something that calls to Majora.."

"... I see... Come... Let us go to the full circle."

"Yes... There is much to do... too much to do.. and..! What was that!"

The wraith that was Teia shrieked and clutched at her head. "Nooo!" she moaned.

Zyr gritted his teeth and staggered against a boulder for support as a wave of something dark and evil washed over the canyon. "The Stone Tower!" he cried out in horror. "He's sealing the damn tower!"

After a time, the sickening presence left, but its taint remained... Not terribly long after, but one of many journeys began... a journey to Hyrule.

* * *

And that's that...

Please review! And please go on and read our first chapter!


	2. Chapter 1

**The Legend of Zelda: Bridge Between the Worlds (Temporary Title)**

_Co-authored by Umi Kanshisha and Sargent Snarky_

Summary: Link returns to Hyrule only to have everything go wrong. And Hyrule is not all that's in danger. Tatl and Tael return, bringing warning of the impending doom of Termina, and the return of Majora… Not to mention the return of Ganondorf. With the aid of an interesting assortment of companions (including -three- fairies) Link must embark upon yet another quest waged across the two parallel domains to save both. Lucky him…

_Disclaimer: Neither one of us owns the Legend of Zelda franchise. All right? We _wish_ we did, but that doesn't count._

_Umi: Although, I do own it in my dreams. When I'm sleeping, the magnificent Legend of Zelda series, Golden Sun series, and a number of other anime's belong to me. And then I wake up, and I don't own it anymore…_

_Disclaimer take 2: We've borrowed some ideas from the magnificent author_ Rose Zemlya - a.k.a. Lady Rose, _mostly concerning the Sheikah, the Gerudo, and details concerning the loverly Hyrule. And possibly brief mentions of some of the characters in her story – but only brief mentions! O.o The only thing plot-wise we've borrowed from her… I shan't mention until we actually get to it. Since mentioning it would be somewhat of a spoiler for later chapters. _

_Disclaimer take 3: Snarky: This story is based off of an ongoing Legend of Zelda roleplay occurring betwixt us two authors. (And, indeed, much of the writing is transported directly from our roleplay, albeit with editing.) Thus, some characters are written about differently than others. Writing styles differ, you see. Karin, Atreyu, Draconis, Ganondorf, and Zelda (at first) were played by Umi while Link and Zelda (towards the latter half of this chapter) were played by Snarky. Umm… We each have other characters we play who will surface within the next chapter… You will have seen them in the prologues. _

_Umi: Also, throughout the story, there will be elements (and sometimes weapons) drawn from the Naruto anime series. You see, I have a sort of obsession with it, and as such I borrow things such as hand seals, kunai and shuriken, exploding tags, and Fuuma shuriken. Just so everyone knows, I am not the awesome anime god known as Kishimoto Masashi-san. Of course that should be obvious, being the fact that I'm a girl…o0 I only own Naruto when I'm sleeping. And since I'm awake, none of those things are mine. Oh, and Dark Link and Tatl don't belong to me either, though they are currently in my head… They're my two Zelda muses, although, they're not working much today. Dark has an obsession with pizza, and he just found a coupon for the 555 deal for Dominos, and Tatl /is/ his guardian fairy now, so… They're busy._

_Snarky:So _that's_ where Tatl and Dark went… Hope Zelda doesn't realize he stole her purse… Muahaha…_

_Umi: Anyway, it is now time for both of us to shut up, and for you to get to the story. So… Enjoy! (That sounded corny; sorry…)_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter I (The Pilot Chapter)**

_ The Beginning of It All… Again._

The dawn was dark; the clouds hiding the sun were pregnant with rain, and the water would be breaking very soon. So, of course, this just happened to be the day Link finally found his way back to Hyrule. He'd been away for years – almost four, to be exact – searching and adventuring. The object of his search had been Navi, the fairy with whom he had fulfilled his destiny (or one of his numerous destinies) to become the Hero of Time and defeat Ganondorf, and Link had found her a year ago, after a few adventures, including a trek through Termina: a land parallel to Hyrule. And now, he and his fairy had finally found their way back to Hyrule after getting thoroughly lost.

Despite the weather, both were overjoyed to be back, and even the horse Epona was exuberant, pleased to be back upon her home turf. She pranced about, frisking excitedly. Link, upon her back, let her jump about as she pleased, and he reveled in the sights and smells of the Hylian Field. They had entered Hyrule not terribly far (within an hour's ride) from Castle Town, so Link determined to head there first. He could drop in on friends there, check up on what all had happened in his absence, say 'hi' to the Master Sword and the Temple of Time, and (perhaps best of all) talk with Princess Zelda. Link was very good at sneaking onto the castle grounds, you see.

"I'm sorry Link," said Navi after a few moments of riding. "But… I really can't take it anymore."

"Then go back to the forest. Don't worry. I know you need to return there often, and you've been away for quite a while. I was planning on going to the forest to see Saria after Castle Town, anyway."

"Really?"

"Yup, so, get going, you annoying ball of glowing fluff."

"Fine, then. I will." Navi sniffed, then pausing in front of Link's face, she waved. "See you in a few days, then, partner."

"Bye, Navi!"

And with that, she was gone: A blue glowing speck zipping hurriedly out of sight in a direct line for the forest. Link might not have been a Kokiri, but Navi was still a Kokiri fairy, and she couldn't leave woodland for too long, especially the Kokiri Forest and the Lost Woods. And she hadn't been in the Kokiri Woods in six years. She'd been in a forest parallel to the Lost Woods, and that had helped some, but she wouldn't be fully recovered without a few days spent in the Kokiri Woods, near the Great Deku Tree. (Or, rather, the Young Great Deku Tree, since the old one had died six years ago.)

Link sighed as she flew away. He missed her already; she was as much a part of him as his ears or eyes. Sure, he could function with out them, but if they was gone, there'd always been something missing, a sense he no longer possessed. However, the seventeen year old (almost, but not quite eighteen, as he still had a few weeks until his birthday) forced his thoughts ahead, to Castle Town. He and Epona reached the drawbridge within the hour.

Link would have just turned Epona loose, but she held some of his supplies and things in her saddle bags. (Funnily enough, she wore a saddle, but not a bridle.) He proceeded to take the things out and put them into his magical pouch. Now, this pouch was just about the most useful thing he owned, because no matter how much he put into it, it was never full. It had endless space within it, and Link never had to fish around for what he wanted. The pouch seemed to just know what Link wanted, and it provided it, should the item be inside. The pouch also didn't like pickpockets. It tended to bite them; hard.

Anyway, Link dismounted Epona and let her loose. She nuzzled him, nickered and took off for Lon Lon Ranch, her home. Apparently, she'd been homesick, too. Link smiled and shook his head, then (after adjusting his trademark stocking cap) sauntered across the drawbridge and into Castle Town.

At first, he was somewhat uncomfortable with the hustle and bustle, but he came to ignore it. No one particularly recognized him – Link hadn't spent too much time before in Castle Town, or at least the market place where he was now – although many eyed his clothing with interest. No one (except Link) dressed as a Kokiri would. And no one else, including the Kokiri, wore a hat just like Link's. But, don't knock his hat. It was _Link's_ hat. It was special.

Link was just wandering around when someone tapped his shoulder. He spun around and was surprised to find a girl staring at him with golden eyes. They weren't metallic, but they were still aureate in color. Those eyes were set in a pale face framed by a cascade of purplish black hair that fell just below her shoulders. A black trench coat adorned her thin frame, but instead of being worn properly, the collar of it was snapped around her neck to form a cape behind her. A navy blue shirt and matching pants clung tightly to her body, and black fingerless gloves were covering her hands. Finally, a sword was strapped onto her back in a dark red sheath, and a small dagger could be seen about her waist – along with several containers that looked as though they might hold scrolls.

"Excuse me," she said. "But do you know where the Philosophers Potion might be sold?"

"No… But there's an old lady who makes potions in Kakariko. You might find it there," Link answered. The girl nodded and walked off, but seemed to give Link something of a suspicious glance.

Link paid her little mind after that. It wasn't like Kakariko was far, or a particularly dangerous journey… If you were armed, that is. Just about half a day's walk, or a couple hour's ride. Anyway, as the young man wandered a little longer, drifting through familiar – yet changed streets – he saw not-quite-recognizable faces. Was that the lady who doted upon her dog? If so, she'd lost weight. Lots of weight. But her dog still sprang about with ebullience.

However, Link found himself steadily drawing closer to the Temple of Time. It might just have been his imagination, but he felt a gentle call, a pull towards that holy place. Even before he'd known his true destiny, when he'd first come to Castle Town and visited the stately cathedral, he'd felt at home there. It was the one true place, it seemed, in all of Hyrule that was truly, well, his. A place of his own, so to speak.

The village of the Kokiri had never been home. No, it had never felt like home. No place did. Perhaps that had something to do with Link never knowing where he really came from. Or, perhaps it merely came from him being the Hero of Time. But, he was inclined to think it was a bit of both.

As he reached the quiet, deserted courtyard of the Temple of Time, his thoughts turned thither, and he sighed softly as he strove yet again for some recollection of a time _before_ the Kokiri. As usual, he strove in vain. Nothing could he remember. Nothing at all. Still, maybe someday… he might recall?

He stood upon the steps to the Temple of Time, gazing up at the stonework for a long moment before smiling just a little and entering. The smile wasn't a happy smile, per say, but one of cynical amusement at himself. He absent-mindedly left the door ajar behind him as he strode slowly across the floor, pausing upon the pad inscribed with the Triforce and the symbol of the Sage of Light. Faintly, the soft sung melody of Time could be heard echoing. Link found himself humming it softly, too. The music just thrummed with his soul… relaxing him.

After a moment of basking in the music and the all around welcome feeling he received, Link started forward again, stopping once again before the altar in which the three indentations for the three Spiritual Stones lay. The stones were there now, though the door remained closed. He'd left them here when he'd left Hyrule – they belonged to Hyrule, and they belonged _in_ Hyrule.

Now, however, they flashed softly, as if reading his mind, and the door opened to where the Master Sword sat in its pedestal. Link supposed if he drew it now, then he wouldn't have to worry about getting swept into Sacred Realm for seven years. Indeed, he mused, it had been seven years since he'd sheathed it there. Yet, the blade still shone clean and pure – evil's bane.

He went up the first set of stairs and through the door, but he stopped before those leading up the platform upon which the pedestal sat. Certainly he contemplated drawing it, but it probably wasn't a good idea. It wasn't that the seal on Ganondorf was centered upon the sword, and it wasn't that drawing the sword opened up all paths to the Sacred Realm, but it was that it made the seal upon Ganondorf weaker. The sword also served to keep the flows of time and the gates completely closed. If the sword was drawn, the seals were just a little weakened – not much, but enough that allowed a little slippage.

Standing there, though, Link felt the sword beckon to him. He silently told it 'no', but it wouldn't listen. It still called, saying it would be needed soon. Very soon. Evil was coming…

"Hey, is that your sword?"

The sudden voice startled Link, and he turned quickly, hand on his sword hilt – a considerably lesser sword than the one truly belonging to him, but it was well-made and sharp. He relaxed only slightly when he saw that it was the girl from earlier, whose eyes flicked back and forth between the Master Sword and Link.

"Maybe… What are you doing here? I thought you went to Kakariko?" Link asked, his voice slightly suspicious.

The girl shrugged. "I was going to go to Kakariko, but then I decided to come here instead."

"Why?" Link inquired further, crossing his arms. The girl shrugged.

"I don't know; I just felt like it. By the way, my name's Karin." She held her hand out to him, and he slowly extended his to shake it. "What's yours?"

"Link."

"Cool name – reminds me of a fence or a chain, though." She replied with a laugh, and walked up to the Master Sword. "This is a pretty blade, isn't it?"

"I guess, yeah," Link replied, feeling something of an impulse from the blade as she neared it. He didn't know why he felt so suspicious around her, but he did know that the Master Sword didn't seem to like her much either, or at least didn't like something about her.

"Ooh, I think I know what this is!" Karin exclaimed suddenly. "My father used to bring me books from Hyrule all the time, and the Master Sword was in quite a lot of them… Legends and such… But it said that only the Hero of Time could draw it…"

Link watched her, shifting slightly in his place. She wasn't from Hyrule… Though that news eased him slightly, it almost made him even more wary of her – more so when she reached up to take the blade. He almost called out a warning to her; he could feel the sword growing somewhat irritated.

"Ow!"

That startled cry came from her lips as the Master Sword repelled her with a small shock. Link winced slightly at the blade's annoyance, wishing that she had just left it alone. The blade even extended a bit of its displeasure to Link, as if it was somehow _his_ fault that she'd touched it.

"It doesn't… like being touched by most people," He told her, though his tone was somewhat distracted; his azure eyes never moved from the hilt, for it cried a warning, suddenly, of something or someone drawing near to the Temple. "I don't recommend going near it again."

"You said it was yours, right?" She asked, heading his advice and stepping away. He nodded slowly. "So you're the Hero of Time?"

"Yeah, I guess… I mean, I was, but not… It's hard to explain." Link said, moving a bit closer to the Sword.

Karin grinned at him. "So why don't you draw it?"

"I don't know if I should," He replied, "I haven't in such a long time, that... Well, I just don't think I should." He didn't think explaining about Ganondorf would help matters any, besides the fact that it really wasn't any of her business.

"Oh, come on!" She encouraged, motioning to it. "Time doesn't matter to that sword, right? Besides, it's yours anyway; you might as well draw it."

"No, I don't—"

"Why are you hesitating so much? Scared?"

"No!" His tone was definitely annoyed. "I just don't think that it would be wise, that's all. Not yet, anyway."

"But wisdom was never your strong suit, was it?"

Link whirled at the sudden voice, as did Karin. Standing in the doorway of the Temple of Time was a man who appeared to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven. He had thick, unruly dark chocolate hair that fell into oddly tinted blue-green eyes. A thick blue cape was fasted about his shoulders, and fell all the way to his black boots. Thin looking gray armor encased his chest, yet his pants – though they were the same color – were normal. His skin held something of a tan, and a long scar ran across his right cheek.

"Who are you?" Link demanded in a low voice, seconds away from drawing his blade; something about this eavesdropper set him on edge – he didn't feel… right. No other way to describe it. The Master Sword agreed, however.

The man chuckled. "My name is Draconis. I was merely visiting and – since this temple seems to have so much historic quality – I decided to drop in for a visit. I didn't interrupt before now, however…"

"And what do you mean by 'wisdom was never your strong suit'? You don't know me, so how would you know that?" Link asked, narrowing his eyes; as if on cue, he felt a slight twinge upon the back of his left hand. The piece of the Triforce had never left; Link wondered why and if it ever would. In his honest opinion, it was something of a freeloader.

Draconis shrugged. "I was merely making a statement based on what I've heard so far. After all, you do refuse to draw a blade that is clearly yours…"

"How is that clear?"

"You said it yourself, did you not? Forgive me for sounding intrusive," Draconis gave a small, short bow, "and for eavesdropping on your conversation. But I do have advice."

"Oh? And what would that be, pray tell?" Link asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Draw the Master Sword. You'll need it."

"For what?" It was clear from his suspicious tone that Link didn't exactly like Draconis, despite the fact he was only echoing the Master Sword's sentiments. The foreigner, however, didn't seem to mind this at all.

"Couldn't you sense it? There's something looming on the horizon – something evil. If you are indeed the Hero of Time, and if that is your sword, you'll need it to protect this land that you love so much."

Link frowned, but Karin nodded.

"He's right, Link – you will need it. You do want to protect Hyrule, don't you?"

"Of course, but…" Link turned back around to face the Master Sword, his frown still in tact. "Something about this doesn't feel right…"

"So you _do_ sense the evil. I'm glad – now you'll be able to defeat it easier." Draconis nodded as he said this. "Draw the sword, Link; it's the only way to truly protect Hyrule."

"Draw it – he's right. You need a legendary blade if you're the legendary hero. It all fits." Karin urged, gesturing towards the sword.

Letting out a sigh, Link threw up his hands and walked towards the Master Sword. "Fine, fine – but this still doesn't feel right."

Reaching towards it, he curled his fingers tightly around the hilt and gave a tug. A flash of brilliant sapphire light shot up around Link and the Pedestal of Time before fading away. He again felt a twinge upon his left hand, and a greeting from the blade.

Link smiled at the Master Sword, giving it an experimental slash. It felt perfect in his hand – as if it had been there for his entire life. He supposed it sort of had, but then again, this was the first time he had the sword since he had changed time. Slipping his other sword out of its sheath, he slipped the Master Sword in and hooked his spare in the straps that held his sword sheath and shield. Maybe he could find a spare sheath later.

When the Hero turned back around to look at Draconis, he was surprised to see that the man was laughing. Not over dramatically, but just chuckling a bit under his breath with a satisfied smirk plastered on his face.

After a quick look at Karin – who seemed bewildered that Draconis could find a sword drawing so humorous – he snapped, "Who are you?"

"I've already told you. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go. Have fun saving Hyrule – since you've just released the danger, I think you'll have a ball." Draconis replied, and turned and walked out of the Temple.

Link – his anger incensed – chased after. "No, not your name; I already know that. I mean, who are you really!"

Karin - startled by both of their actions - quickly ran after Link.

Draconis, meanwhile, stopped to turn around and faced Link -- smirking. He folded his arms -- the armor covering them clanking slightly as he did so -- and fully ran his blue-green orbs up and down the Hero of Time.

"Who am I?" He repeated the question, laughing. "Why are you so interested in me? You'd think you'd be more concerned with the land you have to 'save'. However, if I really interest you that much..." He shifted his shoulders slightly, causing the cape he was wearing to flair slightly -- and the rain to splash his armor. "I believe it is obvious that I am not of the desert?"

"How would that be obvious?" Karin asked, coming up from behind Link.

Draconis glared at her. "I wasn't talking to you, girl, so shut your mouth."

"Hey! You can't talk to me like--"

"Do I have to shut it for you?"

There was so much finality in his voice -- and such a deadly undertone -- that Karin instantly shut up. He smirked at her and went on. "So you may question what connection I have with the Dark Lord. Well, that doesn't really concern you, however--"

"He did ask," Karin interrupted, stepping forward and folding her arms. "You know, it's really rude to bait people like that. If you're going to tell him, just tell him instead of rambling on like some incoherent idiot,"

He glared at her, and raised his hand. In his palm, a small -- quite small, compared to what the Evil King of Darkness could do -- glowing sphere of energy appeared in his hand. "Don't push me," He warned, and she fell silent once more. Turning back to Link, he closed his palm -- dispelling his power.

"I will tell you this; he is not gone for good. If you think your previous heroic efforts truly meant anything to the sealing of the Great King, you were wrong. He is very much alive; and he will return. I will make sure of that.

"I told you my name is Draconis. I originate from the land of Westaria--"

"You what?" Karin shrieked, and then pointed an accusing finger at him. "Liar! You couldn't have come from--"

"Shut up!" He hissed, and narrowed his eyes to slits at her. "If you speak one more word, girl, I will kill you."

Karin did look like she wanted to say more, but seemed to take his words to heart. She backed up slightly, as though thinking that if she was behind Link he could protect her.

"But I traveled to Hyrule long ago to seek something," Draconis went on as though Karin hadn't interrupted, though his breathing was somewhat more shallow from his anger. "This is where I met my master -- Ganondorf -- through meditation connections with the Realm he is sealed in.

"I can restore him to power, giving him back the rule he once had. You drawing that blade would make it too simple for me. I can even help him maintain that power -- forbidding you or that meddling princess Zelda from interfering. However, I am willing to strike a bargain with you.

"Deliver me your blood -- your blood and Zelda's -- and I won't return my master to power. Instead, I'll tell him the process failed -- something he'll most likely believe. Just bring me the blood, and I'll keep your little land safe."

With this, he turned and started walking away from the temple once more.

Link was truly worried and truly wished to avert any harm to Hyrule (especially by his fault) but... was this another trick? Something told him it was. Call it his intuition, but it was never wrong about stuff like that.

"Wait," he said. "Why do you need the blood? And how much?"

Link, although very untrusting of Draconis, and all but sure that this was a bad idea, was willing to take a chance that Draconis might be speaking the truth about not returning Ganon... but what if he wasn't? What if the blood was what was needed to restore Ganondorf?

"Oh, just a little bit. Just cover the bottom of any ordinary bottle," Draconis responded. "And as for why I need it... Let's just say I have my own reasons, shall we?"

Link narrowed his cerulean eyes. "Let's just say that isn't a very good reason. Give me a better one, and a true one."

With the speed of a practiced (and natural) warrior, he moved forward in a single, graceful lunge. The blade of the Master Sword was suddenly within a finger's breadth of Draconis's neck, poised for a simple slicing.

Tone brooking no argument, Link repeated, voice surprisingly icy for the normally kindly boy, "Give me your true reason."

Most people -- Karin included -- would have been deeply scared by Link having his sword at their neck. But Draconis wasn't near the category of "most people"; he merely laughed while looking at the blade, and stared deep into Link's eyes as he replied,

"I merely want to restore my home, Link. Is that so wrong?"

Link had no real reply for that, but to query, "Is aiding one so evil really the way to regain your home?"

He then sighed, and with another fluid movement, he sheathed the sword, though he didn't relax.

Draconis shook his head. "My reasons for aiding Ganondorf do not have a single thing to do with restoring my home. Whoever gave you the idea that the blood was for him?"

"Uh, you did?" Karin replied, but he ignored her.

"No, the blood is for something much more. You see, I need the blood of the innocent. I think a faithful lapdo-- I mean, warrior and a fair princess are innocent enough. Besides that, harming children just doesn't seem right, even though there are plenty of them in the forest," He rolled his eyes for a moment before replying, "Including that annoying one who is always playing that damned music. Anyway, Link, consider your decision carefully. You will not have long to make your choice. I suggest you choose wisely," With that, Draconis started to leave once more.

"Nut case..." Karin muttered, shaking her head at him as he walked off.

"Innocent?" Link repeated, almost laughing. Oh yes… A young woman who had entirely too much skill in manipulation and a young man who had spent a good portion of his life killing things are oh _so _innocent. "As for my own thoughts, suffice it to say I do not trust you. Karin speaks true. Your own actions and words..."

At the mention of the forest, Link's eyes narrowed. "The Kokiri," he said. "I'd leave them alone, if I were you... Especially and including Saria, the 'annoying one who always plays music'."

"My own actions and words have nothing to do with this," He replied, narrowing his own eyes at the hero. "For one who claims to care so much for this land -- and those who inhabit it -- you sure are acting the hypocrite. You should want to do whatever you can to save it; yet you are stalling on precious time.

"And I never said I'd hurt them. At least, I won't as long as I get what I want from you and the princess. If not, then the little elves will have to go. And believe me," He smirked cruelly, his eyes laughing in a twisted way. "'Saria' will be the first. So, if you don't want Hyrule under siege from the Dark Lord, and the forest children to be slaughtered... You'll give me what I want."

"You would kill children?" Karin spat, and shook her head. "You're sick. Westaria doesn't need you."

"You're obviously doing nothing for it," He retorted back at her. "And yes. I would do anything to obtain my desires."

"So, in your opinion, the ends justify the means?"

"Most definitely,"

Karin just shook her head once more, not feeling the need to say any more. Link shot a dark glare at Draconis before walking swiftly past him and out of the back alley of sorts by which one got to the Temple of Time. He then made his way, quickly threading through streets of varying degrees of crowd, towards the Castle itself.

Link was quite certain that donating his and Zelda's blood to Draconis would most likely result in Draconis bringing Ganondorf back, but… Link just wasn't willing to risk the Kokiri getting killed. Better he and Zelda lose a bit of blood, than the Kokiri lose all of theirs. Besides, at least then he'd know when Ganondorf was coming back.

Draconis chuckled lightly to himself. Some were just so simple to manipulate. _Of course, I love manipulating people... Like a huge game, and I hold all the pieces,_ He thought to himself, and walked off, disappearing amid the back streets of Castle Town.

Karin, meanwhile, had no intention of leaving Link alone. Running as fast as she could, she caught up to him and asked, "Are you going to go see the Princess?"

Link nodded, but didn't answer aloud.. Or if he did answer, it was quiet enough to be drowned by the pounding of the rain. Quickly exiting the bustling crowds, Link hurried along the dusty (but now muddy) path to the castle. To his surprise, wrapped in a thick cloak to protect her from the rain, Zelda stood beneath the portcullis that served as the first gate to the castle. Her own blue eyes watched him with unblinking worry as she awaited him.

With a glance back at Karin, Link quickened his pace to meet her. Karin saw his glance, but didn't mind it; she merely stared back at him with unblinking golden eyes, and then noticed the princess.

_Wow... She's beautiful..._ Karin thought, at least, of what she could see of her. Giving a small bow, she kept directly behind Link as he walked up to Zelda.

Zelda, meanwhile, glanced once at Karin. She really didn't know why the girl was there, but just looked back at Link.

"He's returning, isn't he?" she asked Link, staring at him with an unblinking -- yet kind and slightly worried -- gaze.

Eyes meeting hers, Link nodded. "I..."

He broke off... unsure quite what to say.. Whether to tell her immediately of his encounter with Draconis, or what... A rather odd reunion after a little over four years, no?

Her eyes swiftly stole a glance at the sword in his scabbard, recognizing it anywhere. Not that she hadn't known he had drawn it; she had felt it as soon as he did, sort of like a jerk at her heart, not to mention the twinge from the Triforce of Wisdom. Not only that, but she had known it would happen. She had seen it in her dream.

As well as some of what would happen afterward. Not a whole lot -- just that evil was threatening the land she loved once more. Gosh, but Zelda loved her vague dreams that never made much sense until after the fact.

"You drew the Master Sword," She finally spoke, and it wasn't a question. Not that it was judgmental or angry; rather, it was just... a statement. Nothing more, nothing less. "Destiny has come upon us once again to protect our land... And for you to take up your place as the Hero of Time," She looked back up at him. So calm... So calm when so much evil threatened the land. It was actually admirable. "Link... What alerted you to draw the sword? What caused that?"

"That... Was sort of my fault," Karin broke in, glancing down at the floor. "I'm sorry, Princess... I pushed him into it. I mean, I didn't mean to! I didn't know about that evil creep, I just... I don't know... I was curious..."

Zelda gave her a slight smile. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Nope, so I have no importance in this. I just felt like following him," She pointed at Link, "Don't mind me at all, your highness,"

Zelda glanced back to Link waiting for his answer. Though she wouldn't tell him, it was great to see him again. Through the four years, she had missed him... And to talk to him again -- even under such circumstances -- felt great.

Link sighed, eyes slipping to the ground. "It wasn't your fault, Karin.. Not entirely, anyway. The sword… called. And yet, it kept warning. I wasn't going to draw it unless I saw a need. But I thought... I thought maybe Draconis' warning was true; something certainly was looming on the horizon. And still is."

He trailed off a moment, then told Zelda of Draconis and what the man had said. When he'd finished, he fell silent, waiting for a response, if any, from Zelda. Looking at her, he recalled how much he'd missed her (and, yes, worried a bit), and yet somehow he had the weird feeling that if anything had really happened to her, he would have known... somehow...

"...I see..." Zelda glanced up at the sky for a moment, rain drops falling onto her pale skin. "I had a vision last night while I dreamt. A shadow was looming over Hyrule, falling steadily downwards. Suddenly, it blanketed the land, covering everything and blocking out the light." She looked back at him. "Except for one light. _You_, Link. I think... I know that you will save us." A sardonic smile curved her lips. "Like last time. Only, there was more; you weren't alone with just Navi this time. There were other lights that joined the first. Well, that wasn't everything in the dream, but that's the gist of it."

_Wow. Pretty abstract vision,_ Karin thought, but didn't say it aloud. That would be disrespecting the princess, and would probably piss Link off. Seeing the way he had acted towards Draconis, that was _not_ something she wanted to do.

"We should do whatever we can to prevent Ganondorf from coming again," the princess continued, "And yet, while I have my concerns about Draconis, we ought to do as he says... I don't want the Kokiri to be slain either," Zelda nodded once to Link, sighing and speaking a bit slower. "You have two bottles, right?"

Link nodded slowly; something about his eyes held a trace of... something… Regret? Sadness? Weariness? Who knows... "I have a lot, actually. But... oughtn't we go inside or something?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes, perhaps that would be best." She turned and walked under the arch, clutching the cloak tighter to her. The rain... It was cold. Forbidding, almost.

Karin followed, slightly excited. She had never seen a castle before... Not that she thought they'd let her in. But hey, maybe if she stayed quiet enough, they'd forget about her and she could slip in. Couldn't hurt to hope, right?

Link hesitated before following Zelda. Something… just wasn't right, and it had nothing to do with the rain. He glanced back at Karin to see if she would follow, hoping she would, but perfectly understanding if she wouldn't. But she was following, and that was fine with him.

Zelda, too, paused to look back at Karin, and offered the other woman a smile. Then, she turned back around, leading around the curve in the pathway to the steps and gate to the castle proper. She kept her pace slow enough that she was only a little ahead of Link. Why? Well… She hadn't seen him in four years, and he had changed. Not so much in personality (although he seemed wearier, and a bit sadder… He certainly wasn't the carefree boy he'd been when she first met him in the garden of the castle.), but physically; Link had matured, grown taller - he was lean and muscular -, and Zelda was curious to know what had happened in those four years. But now was not the time to find out. So she watched him out of the corner of her eye.

Link gazed up at the castle, hazy through the rain.

Karin gazed up at the castle in wonder, smiling slightly to herself. Even though it was covered in rain, it was still beautiful; plus, the water gave the white stone of the castle a glossy sheen.

She stopped suddenly though, listening. She could have sworn that she heard somebody walking behind them, but halting as soon as she did. And she _did_ sense someone... Who, though, she couldn't figure out.

As soon as she started walking again, she got her answer. A glowing yellow energy ball came crashing through the air, aiming at the space directly between Link and Zelda. Startled, Karin's head whipped to the right to see Draconis perched in a tree, with another orb in his hand.

"Link, Princess," He offered with a smirk. "Long time no see."

In one fluid motion, both his regular sword and the Master Sword were in Link's hands as the yellow orb flew between he and Zelda. Stepping somewhat in front of the princess, so as to protect her, he held the two blades at the ready as he stood, slightly crouched.

"What the hell was that for?" Karin yelled, glaring at Draconis.

He glared back at her. "Mind your own business, girl--"

"See, I would, but I don't normally let psycho's with energy balls go unquestioned," Karin retorted sharply.

"You do when they can kill you," He responded without looking at her. Karin -- severely pissed now but grinning -- pulled her dagger out of its sheath.

"Come on and try it, then,"

"I would, but I'm not interested in you," He kept his smirk and his gaze on Link and Zelda, switching the energy between his hands. "I'm interested in them..."

"What do you want this time?" Link questioned, tone decidedly unfriendly.

Zelda merely looked irked. An orb of pinkish light gathered in her hands, and she glared at Draconis, eyes icy. She said nothing, however, but waited.

Draconis merely smirked. "I just wanted to see if you've made your decision yet. Have you decided to give me what I wanted?"

"You know, there _is_ such a thing as being patient," Karin muttered, holding her dagger tightly. "We just saw you, what, fifteen minutes ago?"

Draconis chose to ignore her. "So, did you make a choice yet?"

Both Zelda and Link gazed coldly at Draconis, neither one speaking for a moment. Strangely, Link didn't have to look at or ask Zelda to know that she was disturbed by Draconis, or to know that she didn't trust him in the slightest; Equally as strange, she - without using the power given her by the Triforce of Wisdom - felt the same way, perceiving, after a fashion, Link's annoyance and mistrust. Still, now was not the time to dwell upon such peculiarities. Therefore, they didn't. Instead, they observed Draconis for a moment before speaking.

Zelda spoke first: "Yes," she said, slowly, hesitantly, "We have made our choice."

She relaxed a bit, but didn't dismiss the orb of energy. Link, too, relaxed, lowering his swords, but not sheathing them. Of course the two would take any chance to keep Hyrule from harm... but they were both still uncertain about this. Still... Maybe it was better to give Draconis their blood than to risk having the Kokiri harmed.

"And it is...?" Draconis asked, becoming annoyed now. "It isn't nice to stall like that, Princess. It's actually quite annoying."

After a moment, he looked at Karin, waiting for a response from her. When she merely blinked, he asked, "Well?"

"Well what?" She retorted coldly, glaring at him.

"Aren't you going to say something incredibly annoying that makes me want to strangle you?"

"No. Obviously you want me to, so I'm not going to,"

Draconis rolled his eyes. "Thank the Goddesses,"

Karin rolled her eyes as well. "But I do think--"

"No," He cut her off, "You've given up the chance to say something irritating. Say it now and I'll kill you."

Karin glared at him, but did shut her mouth.

Draconis, meanwhile, looked back at Link and Zelda as if waiting for their answer.

Zelda then completely dismissed the orb of energy, and sighed. Stepping next to Link - who still kept his swords out - she looked up at Draconis through the rain. "I... we will give you our blood."

Draconis smirked, and jumped down from the tree. "Perfect, Princess. I'm glad you've made the right choice. I trust you have the containers?" He pulled a long, double-edged dagger from its case. Twirling it between his fingers, he kept up his smirk as he watched the pair of them. "Don't worry," He added to Link. "I'm not going to hurt you. In all honesty, this barely hurts at all."

Link blinked, then abruptly sheathed his swords. Though he kept his infinately blue eyes trained upon Draconis, the youth fished around in his pouch, removing two glass bottles from it. They were empty. "Here," he mumbled, holding them out.

Draconis took the bottles and walked over to Zelda, holding his dagger steady. "Ladies first," He told her, "hold out your arm, please."

_At least he said please,_ Karin thought sarcastically, watching with perfect attention.

Zelda took a deep, steadying breath, removed one glove and pulled back her sleeve to reveal her smooth, porcelain skinned arm. The princess held it out unwavering, though uncertainty played behind her eyes. Her instincts screamed against trusting anything this man said, but... there was nothing for it.

Draconis smirked and held the jagged blade to her wrist. Zelda winced as it sliced across the delicate flesh, cutting into tender tissue. However, she couldn't help but gaze at the dark crimson liquid trickling into jar.

Draconis caught it, filling the bottom of the jar. Then, without so much of a "thank you" or offering of a bandage to Zelda, he moved to Link.

He didn't even wait for the Hero of Time to offer his arm. Reaching out, he grabbed Link's arm and sliced roughly across with the dagger to get the offering. For some reason, some sort of dislike seemed to be in his eyes whenever he looked at the Hero; even a mocking look.

Link did not resist as the other snatched his arm, not even flinching as Draconis made a jagged (and painful) slash across the boy's wrist. (Luckily, he'd removed his glove on that hand, so it didn't get sliced.) The man took less care in his cutting of Link than of Zelda, and Link observed that Draconis did this with utmost distaste, though the Hero of Time did not know why. He wished he did. Then, maybe, he would understand this other man. At least a little.

Karin just watched, narrowing her eyes at Draconis'. Something about him... She didn't know what it was, but she just didn't like it. She almost felt as if he didn't like what he was doing; like he was only doing it for some sort of a reward. At the same time, she felt as though he couldn't have been happier than when he was cutting Link. So she merely watched, lingering in the background as he got Link's blood.

"Well, that about ends my work here," He replied, giving a smirk to the hero and princess. "I thank you both for your time and offering. May the Gods give you luck." Sealing the bottles, Draconis turned and started to walk off.

Zelda hadn't expected any words from him, so, upon completion of her role in the blood drive, she pressed her other hand over the wound. A light blue glow surrounded it for a moment, then she let both arms fall to their sides. One might, if one looked, have seen that no trace of the incision was visible upon her skin now.

Link fished around in a pouch at his waist for one of the spare bandages he kept there, but a touch on his arm stopped him. He looked sidelong at Zelda, deep blue eyes meeting deep blue eyes for an instant. Then, she placed a hand over the deep cut and closed her eyes. A blue glow similar to that of before permeated the wound for a moment, then left, taking with it the pain and leaving behind a healed wound. No mark. No scar.

Pulling on his glove, Link took a few steps after Draconis. "Wait," he called. He paused a moment, as if considering exactly what to say, then added, "Will you answer a final question or two?"

Draconis paused, and turned around. "Depends on what those questions are."

He could almost hear Link's question in his mind; what he was glaring at, or what he was really going to do with the blood. Of course, it didn't really matter to him; as far as he was concerned, Link could ask whatever he wanted. Whether or not he would receive an answer was questionable.

The rain slowly stopped as they stood there, dripping a few drops upon the ground to heighten the slippery sheen that was left.

Karin, meanwhile, just continued to stare at him. She couldn't help it. Every time she tried to tear her eyes away, they snapped back. She didn't want to let him out of her sight.

"Why? Why do you glare like that? What do you need our blood for? And why ours in particular?" asked Link.

Zelda merely stood by, now, studying Draconis closely.

Draconis laughed. "I glare because... Well, I would have thought that would have been obvious. For one who saved your country, it is apparent that you're a lot more ignorant than I thought. And as for the other two, I'm not answering." He turned and walked off before they could stop him, soon disappearing into Castle town.

Karin glanced up, where it was easy to see a small black dot circling in the sky. She motioned slightly with one of her hands, and the bird flew down, landing on her now outstretched arm.

It was easy to see that he was a raptor; or, more precisely, a red-tailed hawk. He looked at her (though with his fierce amber eyes, it looked more like he was glaring at her) and flapped his wings a bit in irritation. She removed the strap and rolled up piece of paper from his back before he turned back to her,

"I'm not playing messenger anymore," He snapped, "you find another bird, and make sure to tell Jamie that the next time she wants to send a letter she can use her own bird,"

"Stop complaining," Karin snapped, and put the letter away. "You said you wanted to help,"

"Do I look like a carrier pigeon?" He retorted. "Or an owl? I don't carry letters!" He started to come off her arm, but Karin stopped him.

"Wait, Atreyu, did you see that ugly guy that was here a few minutes ago?"

He nodded. "Yeah, what about him?"

"Go and see if you can find him, and then tell me where he is."

The hawk nodded once more and went into the air, once again becoming nothing but a speck in the sky. A few moments later and he landed on her shoulder, muttering,

"He went into that temple over there,"

"Oh, great, we keep going in circles," Karin muttered, and then turned to Link. "I don't know what he's doing in your temple, but I don't think time would be wasted if we found out." She then started to run off, Atreyu taking to the sky again and muttering about "idiots" and "split-decisions" without "thinking things through".

Link looked slightly bemused for a moment, then he sighed as Draconis disappeared into the city. He exchanged a glance with Zelda and muttered something.

"What?" asked Zelda.

"Nothing."

"No really, what?"

"Nothing!"

"There is something. What?"

Link sighed. "It's just... Well, people - and not just people like him - complain that I'm ignorant, and yet, when I ask to be relieved of my ignorance, they refuse to answer. Besides, has it ever occurred to them that I am only seventeen right now? I haven't had a long time to go seeking answers." He shook his head. "It's rather irritating how people seem to expect perfection…"

Zelda opened her mouth to say something when Karin mentioned the fact that Draconis was headed to 'Link's temple.'

"The Temple of Time," murmured Zelda, worried. "We need to go there. Now."

Link fully agreed with her and Karin. "Ocarina, or sprinting?"

Karin didn't answer. She was sprinting, and every time that the crowd got too thick for her to get through Atreyu would swoop down and scare the hell out of them -- causing them to move out of her way.

When she got there, the doors were locked. Frowning, she began to hit her fists upon it, but no response. "Oh, that's nice!" She yelled in. "Just shut yourself up in the temple!"

"The doors are made out of wood, Karin," Atreyu supplied, landing on her shoulder. "Burn them down,"

"Yeah, then I can get thrown into jail for vandalism," Karin retorted.

"I'm just saying that if you want to get in there quickly, you'll stop hitting your fists on the door."

"Search for another way in," She demanded, and when he didn't move she added, "Please,"

After a few moments he came back to her. "There's a window you can get to if you climb."

She ran around the side and started climbing a tree, jumping up to the window. It was also closed, but at least she could see what he was doing.

In front of the alter there was a large circle drawn, and delicate Westarian letterings put all around that. (She could read some of them, but others were upside down,) He had three torches lit, and was now putting their blood on the circle.

"This... Doesn't seem good," Karin told Atreyu, who responded, "Then do something about it,"

"I'm getting to it!" She pulled out her dagger once more and started to pick the lock on the window, watching him as she did so.

Link leapt after her, Zelda close behind. They followed almost upon Karin's heels, but when they reached the Temple, instead of looking for an alternate root, they merely ran to the door. Link rested his hand upon the door for a moment, and a faint click signaled its unlocking. There were several benefits to being the Hero of Time, one of which being the Temple of Time was kind of like home. It knew you, and it knew you well. Therefore, it would react to you, at least a little.

Anyway, Zelda and Link burst into the temple just as Draconis was pouring the blood. At the same moment, Karin managed to unlock the window. Opening it, she jumped through and landed on the floor, Atreyu following soon after.

"Look, Atreyu, the idiot's doing some magick," Karin supplied sarcastically. Draconis -- for once -- ignored her.

"Stop acting like an idiot and do something about it," He replied, making low circles over them.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Karin rolled her eyes and started forward... But some sort of barrier knocked her back.

So she got up and tried again. And once more, she was knocked backwards. She finally got the hint to stop after the fifth time that she tried this and Atreyu started yelling at her.

"You idiot! Do something else!"

"Like what?" Karin shouted back.

"I don't know, just something! Oh... Never mind. It's too late."

"How is it too... Oh..." She glanced back as the markings on the ground started to glow, and Draconis put his hands to the circle and began whispering something. "You're right. It is too late,"

"Idiot..." Atreyu muttered. "You know, Tobias was never this stupid,"

Karin glared at him. "I'm not Tobias,"

"Obviously,"

"You know, you never had to help me!"

"Right, I was just supposed to let you die? Tobias _wanted_ me to help you."

"Then shut up and make yourself useful!"

"By doing what?"

"I don't know; whatever you want me to do!"

They stopped arguing as everything stopped glowing for a second -- and then started back up. Meanwhile, the flames switched color to blood red, purple, black, and then settled on blue.

Both Link and Zelda had attempted to pass through the barrier, but to no avail. Even Zelda's powers as a sage did nothing to the barrier. So… they watched with sick horror.

"No," she hissed, sudden comprehension as to the nature of the flames and the magic dawning in her eyes. "Stupid... Stupid... Why didn't I see?"

Link seemed to get the gist of what she'd realized, and he drew one of his swords; the Master Sword. Its blade glittered blue, glowing in response to the magic all around and the approaching evil.

Well, Karin really didn't know what they were on about. True, she could tell what Draconis was doing in the fact that it was a ritual, but she didn't know what or who he was doing it for. And in all honesty, she didn't care. See, Karin was the type of person who didn't really mind so long as you don't offend her in some way. But by blocking her off, he pissed her off. And as soon as that happened...

Well, lets just say that Atreyu had to latch his talons in the back of her trench coat/cape thing to stop her from starting forward again.

"Stop being stupid!" He ordered, "You can't get through!"

"Oh, so I'm just supposed to stand here while he does whatever it is that he's doing?" Karin shot back.

"Yes!"

"Screw you," She snapped, "Whose side are you on?"

"Yours, and I don't want you to get blasted back here so many times it knocks out whatever brain cells you actually have! And I don't think Tobias would like it much if he had to meet you in the afterlife so early,"

That made her stop, but not without muttering about having red-tailed hawk for dinner later. Atreyu didn't let go of her cape thing, but did continue to keep his fierce gaze upon Draconis who, it seemed, finally ended the ritual.

A black and purple vortex opened before them, where shadow-like shapes could be seen within. Of course, not all of them stayed there. A tall Gerudo man in black armor soon stepped out, grinning at them all like he had just received an award for best dressed.

Which, anyone with any dress sense at all would tell you, was impossible. Karin was staring at him, and shaking her head in disbelief. Of course, before right then she hadn't thought that people could arrive through portals, but in the same sense... "Just when you thought things couldn't get uglier," She muttered, and Atreyu finished with, "They do."

The vortex closed behind him and Draconis stood up, leaving Ganondorf to turn and thank -- if that's what you could call it -- his servant. He then focused on Link and Zelda.

"The Hero of Time," he muttered, "and the Princess of Destiny. I didn't count on seeing you both here. Not that it matters. I have everything I need -- if not now, but this unexpected circumstance -- to take what is rightfully mine; Hyrule."

Zelda and Link stared up at the (much) taller Gerudo with something akin to anger, horror and worry mixed into one. Let's call it irate anxiety. Well, with Ganondorf on the loose, things could only go from bad to Link, bypassing worse entirely.

"You will never succeed," snapped Zelda. A pinkish glow, well, glowed in each hand - her powers as a sage.

Link glared at Ganondorf, holding the Master Sword poised for attack. "We'll stop you like we did before," he hissed.

"Will you now?" Ganondorf smirked. "Well, it certainly won't be as simple as before, especially considering that your _Sages_," this word was said with as much contempt as the "Hero" and "Princess" terms before, "are once again locked off from their temples. And I'm afraid certain Sages won't.. hmmm.. be around to help. But really, is that my place to say?"

Karin rolled her eyes. "Rhetorical questions. This one's just an entirely smart guy, isn't he?"

Draconis glared at her. "Be quiet. This doesn't concern you."

She glared back. "Like it concerns you?" Turning to Link, she said, "You take care of the tall idiot, and I'll see what I can do about the shorter one. We'll take it from there."

Of course, she had absolutely no idea what she was getting herself into. Though, she never really did, so it didn't matter. Pulling her own sword out (she had her dagger in her hand) she looked at the sparkling silver blade for a moment (of course, it was just the light reflecting off of the steel, but, whatever,); The entire length of the blade was engraved with a drawing of a dragon, and for a moment she just stood there looking at it. Moments later, she was busy trying to kill Draconis for doing whatever it was that he did. Mainly, freeing Ganondorf.

Ganondorf simply looked amused, if not irked by Link's and Zelda's attitudes upon his arrival. He raised up one hand, summoning black lightning energy. Link didn't really listen to what Ganondorf said. Ok, so he did, but not closely. Instead, he leapt forward, sword glowing blue as he slashed at the Gerudo king. A white light surrounded Zelda and Sheik stood there instead. A moment later daggers in hand, he, too, lunged to attack Ganon.

Ganondorf, meanwhile, didn't seem to pay this much mind. Yes, he did have to use the arm with the energy to block Link's strike, and yes, it did hurt, but... The other hand, lightning included, was soon thrust forward at the Hero. After all, he didn't really feel like playing with them.

Drawing his sword quickly out of its sheath, he thrust it forward at Sheik. For his demented little plan inside of his demented little mind to work, he needed Zelda. And for that, he needed to halt her progress. After all, an armed Sheikah coming at him did not raise his hopes any.

The dark lightening crackled down the Master Sword, and laced through Link, causing a rather great lot of pain. As it was, he was thrown backwards with a cry, and he landed hard upon the stone floor near Karin and Draconis. He remained dazed for a moment before twisting to his feet. (Although it did hurt, and he did grimace.)

Sheik, meanwhile, easily dodged the heavy swing despite its speed, for he was faster. That was a major benefit of this form. Although less strong, Sheik could lap most other boys in a foot race any day, and not be terribly winded or sore. Anyway, as he leapt aside of the blade, Sheik flung a rather sharp, sturdy dagger at the large Gerudo.

The dagger that Sheik threw managed to hit Ganondorf in the arm, but the Gerudo didn't even seem to realize it. Instead, he just kept trying to hit Sheik, aiming to slam the flat of his blade against the Chosen Sheikah's head and completely forget about the Hero of Time.

Meanwhile, Atreyu was screaming at Karin because of her "stupidity" again. "Will you stop attacking for a minute? You're going to get yourself killed!"

"No!" Karin yelled back, trying to cut Draconis with her sword once more. He dodged, and shoved his own blade into her arm. "This bastard is going to die!"

"You do know that he could be lying in order to piss you off bad enough so you'll be easy to kill, right?"

"He's not!"

"How do you know?"

"I don't!"

"Dammit, Karin, use your common sense!"

"I don't have any to use!"

Draconis smirked at their conversation, taking a hit to the arm, but managing to catch his blade on hers.

"Your skill is definitely below the level that his was. Shame that such a pathetic girl such as yourself is trying to avenge him," Draconis whispered, causing her to speed up her attacks. This, however, served his purpose; her actions were getting sloppier and causing more openings.

Sheik did not have too hard a time dodging some of the swipes, but others came entirely too close for comfort. A minute or so later, when Link had recovered his senses and gotten to his feet, however, Sheik spent a moment too long flinging another dagger, and that moment cost him. The sword swung around, smacking Sheik on the back and sending him careening to the ground, where a soft thud announced he'd hit his head. The Sheikah did not move.

Link, meanwhile, looked rather worriedly at Sheik, but doubted he could spare the time to go over to Zelda. Therefore, he leapt at Ganondorf's back (since the Gerudo was ignoring him), aiming carefully with the pointy end of the Master Sword.

Ganondorf hissed as the Master Sword delved into his back, but managed to move forward and to the side before the blade had a chance to sink in too deeply. Spinning around -- thus cutting a line in his back where the Master Sword had still been, he sliced his blade towards the Hero of Time.

This was only to get Link to back off, though. Ganondorf continued his attacks, moving towards Sheik as he did so. The sooner he managed to retrieve the Princess -- or Sheikah warrior, in this case, though really they were one in the same -- the sooner that he would be able to take what in his mind was rightfully his -- Hyrule.

Link narrowly avoided the painful slice as he leapt backwards, ripping the Master Sword out of Ganondorf's back as he went. Ignoring the hot blood spattered along the blade, Link leapt towards Ganondorf again, praying he hit the Gerudo before the Gerudo reached Sheik.

Unfortunately for Link, that was not to be the case. Ganondorf dodged the Hero of Time's blade, reached out, and grabbed Sheik by his neck. Straightening up, he put his blade to Sheik's neck.

"Well, it looks like we've gotten everything we came here for," A smirk curled upon his face. "Hyrule is mine once more."

Draconis stopped attacking Karin to listen, putting up his sword as she kept attacking him. Finally, Atreyu grabbed the back of her shirt to make her stop, and she listened also.

"You have lost, Hero," Ganondorf continued talking to Link. "If you could even call it that. Your attempt was so pathetic that it would never merit a win. I'm ashamed that I lost to you before, though, that was probably a fluke if I've ever seen it. Or maybe the Sages were backing you before; after all, you would have never won otherwise without someone to help you. What sort of Hero cannot win without help? Perhaps you aren't even a Hero after all, but more of a doll for the Sages -- or those who were the Sages anyway -- to toy with.

"Regardless, the fact remains that you have lost. But don't worry; I will take my rule as King of Hyrule _very seriously_." Laughing, Ganondorf left the Temple (with Sheik, of course), Draconis following shortly after.

Sheik groggily came to, only to find a sword blade held to his throat, around which was also a large hand. Another moment passed before he realized why, and his red eyes glared at Ganondorf. There was nothing he could do, however, and he, or rather, she cast an apologetic, yet fearful glance at Link.

The hero, meanwhile, looked both irate and anxious. "No!" He swore softly to himself (And we'll leave most of what he muttered unprinted, since it would undoubtedly up the rating. ) as Ganondorf and Draconis left. "Bastard," he hissed.

Sages? Karin had no idea what he was talking about there, but she did know that who was a princess had turned into some sort of warrior, and had just been kidnapped by the freak that came out of the black hole.

Oh yeah. She was going insane.

Regardless, it wasn't Link's fault. Walking over, she told him, "Sorry about what happened, but... We shouldn't just stand here. We should go get those Sage people he was talking about, and then go kick his ass."

Atreyu perched on her shoulder, and then turned his fierce glare towards her. "You know, you're not being comforting at all."

Karin rolled her eyes, but other than that ignored him. "Anyway, where are these Sage people? Do they live in another country or something?"

Link, ignoring Karin for the moment, pulled a rag out of one of his pouches and wiped the blood off of his sword. Then he sheathed the Master Sword and cast his eyes about for his other sword, which Ganondorf had knocked... Somewhere. A moment later, he espied it and walked over to it. When he bent down to pick it up, he winced. Yup. Bruised abdomen. He would definitely feel that in the morning, and the other bruises adorning his skin.

Only once he'd placed his old sword in his makeshift sheath did Link turn to Karin. His endless blue eyes were clear, yet filled with worry, not for himself, but for Hyrule, and for Zelda. Regarding her and her bird, Link sighed. One hand reached into one of his pouches, and pulled out a blue, exquisitely made ocarina. A small Triforce was engraved where the mouthpiece joined the rest of the instrument. Link looked down at it, fingers absently, well, fingering the melodies he knew so well.

"It won't be as easy as all that, I expect," he murmured, darkly. "Ganondorf knows the mistakes he made last time... He'll be much more prepared this time... But the sages... They live here, in Hyrule... But... What he said about them…"

He shook his head, frowning. He debated playing Saria's song to talk with her, or just warping to the Forest Temple.

Karin shrugged off his suspicions. "Well, considering the way that the freaky guy in black came -- you know, through that weird black hole thing -- then I doubt this would be easy. Nothing considering the star of a freak show could be easy."

Atreyu glanced at her once more. "You know, you talk too much."

"And everything that comes out of your mouth is an insult. Why are you following me around, anyway?" She asked, him, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"You're wearing the totem, moron. Plus I was helping you. You do remember how I degraded myself by playing messenger, don't you? Not counting the times that I kept watch from the sky..."

Karin ignored that comment -- for he had her beat -- and then turned back to Link. "So, where's our first destination?"

"The Forest Temple... I need to talk to Saria face to face. If you're coming with me, put your hand on my shoulder... Otherwise, farewell."

Link lifted the ocarina to his lips and played the Minuet of Forest. A slightly green light surrounded him (and Karin), and they disappeared from the temple of time. A moment or two spent in an in between state passed, and then they appeared in the center of the Triforce-marked platform outside the Forest Temple.

* * *

Authors' Notes:

Yeah, yeah. We know. It's long. Very looooong. Not all of the chapters will be quite so long, but brevity isn't our strong point. XD Besides, the chapter itself is _only_ about 10,908 words… -shifty eyes-

Umi: I suppose part of the reason that it's so long is my fault.

(Snarky: You _suppose?_)

Umi: Snarky originally had it much shorter, but I added on quite a bit, because the way the chapter ended before just didn't work for me. And when things don't work for me… Well… As Dark would say, if he wasn't currently involved with his cinnamon sticks "The moron decides to go and change them without any permission or warning,"

But, I did get verification from Snarky, so you can blame her too! Heh…

Snarky: … All righty…

Umi: Anyway, our other characters should be surfacing in the next chapter, along with some familiar faces and people who – though they also have familiar faces – have mental disorders. ; But we all love those people, right?

Snarky: Anyway, we'd really appreciate reviews, even flaming ones that say we suck at writing… Although, we'd prefer if you'd tell us _why_ we suck… x.x


	3. Chapter 2

**Umi**: Hello! First I would just like to say sorry for the long wait on this chapter! It was really my fault, as I procrastinated forever in editing chapter two. (And chapter three, actually.) But I've also been busy, so it wasn't total procrastination…

**Snarky:** Howdy. Um… I'm sorry for the wait, too. And, it's also partially not Umi's fault, but, rather, the fault of my hard drive, which died. Thus, I was without internet for a while, which delayed the updating a few weeks. So, my humblest apologies, as well.

First, before anything else, We'd like to thank our wonderful reviewers!

**Greki – **_Umi:_Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the storyline and such. I'm glad you liked it so much! _Snaky: _Yah, thanks for reviewing. Um.. Ditto to what Umi said. But, looks like you had to wait. Sorry!

**Hawk Chic – **_Umi: _Sorry for the wait. I didn't _mean_ to slack off for so long, I just _did_… Anyway, thanks for your review! I'm really glad you liked it! _Snarky_: -pokes Umi- Slacker! Hehe.. Well, Sorry for the wait, too. I didn't _mean_ for my hard drive to DIE. It just did. –sigh- Stupid hard drive. –stabs it with a spork- Glad you didn't mind the chapter length, because methinks they'll ALL be that long.

**Tenshi no Shinzo – **_Umi: _Hey! Glad you liked it, even if you were a bit confused. Well, it won't be _too _confusing in this chapter, I shouldn't think… Umm… You can go to any Zelda website to look up pictures of the monsters if you need to. Or at least a description of them. XD Thanks for your review! _Snark:_ Thanks for th'review! S'ok to read stuff even if you don't know much about it. I mean, if you read stuff, then often it can help you to understand the stuff better… or hopefully it will. Like Umi said, if you can find a decent Zelda site, then you can learn a lot. Um… Hey, even reading the manga (though it doesn't help for most monsters and things) could help you if you want to know the characters a little better…

**Lycanthropy – **_Umi: _Glad you liked it. And yes, that would be helpful to you. There's also numerous Zelda websites you can find on google. A good one is Anyway, thanks for your review! _Snark: _You can also search for "Legend of Zelda manga", too. It can help you to get the gist of the games' plot-lines, although the manga and the games differ in details and things and 'side quests'.

**Umi**: I've said this a thousand times, and I'll say it again; reviews help keep the story alive, and make it better. Because if you don't tell us what we need to improve, then we can't improve it. And then our story sucks. So, keep reviewing!

**Snark**: O.o -twitches- Must have caffeine, reviews and internet…

Link: -steps out from behind the scenes- Um… -blink- Sorry about Snarky… She's been without internet for over a month, she's addicted to reviews, and she really wants some coffee right now… So… Please ignore any inane babbling, as it is probably her fault.

Disclaimer (by Navi): Hey! Look! Me, an' all the other Legend of Zelda characters and sundry, belong to Nintendo and stuff. Oh, and I think some of the Shuriken belong to Naturo's creators….

**Chapter 2: The Forest Temple **

A moment or two spent in an in between state passed, and then they appeared in the center of the Triforce-marked platform outside the Forest Temple.

Home... Well, as close to home as anyplace, Link supposed. He'd grown up in these woods, and knew them like the back of his hand. Better, even, considering that he truly knew very little about the true powers of the Triforce, whose mark rested upon the back of said hand. Anyway, he slipped his ocarina into his pouch.

His cerulean eyes roved about the foliage, to the stump upon which Saria usually sat. She wasn't there. A sigh escaped Link's lips. She must have been back at Kokori village then. He turned to Karin and opened his mouth to speak, but he never got a chance.

"Aiyaaa!" came a female cry (not Saria's voice, Link was sure), followed by the ring of metal upon metal and a few snarls.

Link spun to face the entrance to the clearing from the Forest Meadow, hand upon hilt, ready to draw. Suddenly, a grunt and a growl sounded, accompanied by another, softer shout, and a Moblin careened out of the entryway, stumbling and falling upon the ground with a crash. After him leapt a nimble, willowy figure trailing both a long yellow scarf (wound loosely about her neck many times, masking half of the face) and a pony-tail of silver hair. Two scimitars (similar to, though not the exact same style as the Gerudo's and bearing the symbol of the Sheikah, instead) flashed in her hands as she landed on the creature's back. It stirred and, snarling, made as if to rise quickly, but a quick slice across the back of his neck, severing its spinal chord ended any more movements.

The girl, who appeared roughly fifteen or sixteen, was clothed in supple leather boots - light ones, mind, that were made for stealth - black leggings with silvery grey twining design traced up the sides, a black vest-ish tunic, (with a skirt reaching to mid-thigh, but with slits up to just below her belt) with blue trim and silver designwork to match the leggings, and a black undershirt that had sleeves reaching a few inches above the elbows. And just about to the elbows, the girl had a long grey bandage-like cloth wrapped, a fingerless black glove reaching like a gauntlet above her wrist over the cloth. Two curved sheathes made an X upon her back, and two pouches hung from a blue sash.

Still standing upon the back of the giant moblin, and not returning her swords to their holders, the girl snapped her head up to look at Link, Karin and her hawk with narrowed eyes. To Link's surprise, the eyes were golden. The metallic irises glinted in the sunlight.

Karin had never seen anything close to a monster that size before, so as soon as she did see it she had put her hand to her dagger as a safety precaution. She then looked up to the girl to find that she was staring at her; the eyes were the same color as her own, and yet something was different. As already said, it wasn't the color, for the shade of the newcomer's eyes was the same chrome-like, metallic, sparkly eyes that Karin had. But something in them betrayed a deeper wisdom, or power. It was the same look that the princess had held in her eyes. Atreyu, of course, was staring back, too. Karin didn't look at him, nor did she reveal what she was feeling, but she knew that if this newcomer wanted to try a staring contest, she was picking the wrong one. Nobody could beat Atreyu, because his normal stare looked like a glare; therefore, eventually, the hawk would win. Might be a blow to your pride -- losing to a bird, that is -- but it was the truth all the same.

"Who are you?" Karin asked, folding her arms. Her question didn't have a mean tone, but was rather just questioning the girl in front of her.

The girl ignored her. Although she gave Karin and her hawk once-overs, she gazed thoughtfully at Link, recognition in her eyes. Link stared back. There was just something uncannily familiar about the girl. And then it hit him; She was Gerudo, or at least partially so. He had only ever seen that bone structure in the Hylian desert, and the Terminian sea; the high cheekbones, pointed chin, and highly defined nose couldn't possibly be from any other blood. But... if she was part Gerudo, why did she have silver hair rather than flaming red? And why was she bearing the Sheikah emblem on her tunic and her blades rather than nothing at all, like the typical Gerudo scimitars?

The girl, after a moment, turned her eyes to the entrance to the Forest Temple, cocked her head as if listening to something, and then nodded. She bent down and wiped the blackish blood off of her scimitars and on to the Moblin's already filthy tunic. Wrinkling her nose, slightly, she hopped off of the Moblin, sheathing her blades as she moved towards Karin, her hawk, and Link.

Standing in a way that reminded Link very much of Sheik, the girl finally spoke: "My name is Ausranila. But, you can just call me Nila, I suppose." Her golden eyes rested upon Link. "You are Link," then the eyes traveled to Karin and her hawk, "But you two... I do not know..."

"I'm Karin," She replied, giving a wave. "And this is..."

"Atreyu," The hawk replied, nodding his head once to Nila. Then, stretching out his wings, he let go of Karin's shoulder and took the sky, for he was tired of staying in one spot for so long.

Nila returned Atreyu's nod, meeting his gaze before he took off into the air. Then, her golden gaze returned to Link.

The Hero of Time studied Nila closely, and with wary interest. He had a feeling there was a lot more to this girl than appearances suggested. "What are you doing here? Who are you really?"

"I am who I say I am," she replied simply. "And my reasons are my own. I was killing Moblins... you'll find their bodies all over the meadow" - she wrinkled her nose again - "Filthy things..."

"But how came you to this place? The Lost Woods is no easy journey."

"I followed the voices of the forest, and the call of the Temple."

_Okay..._ Karin thought in Nila's response. She still didn't understand why the girl was there -- even if it was to kill those moblins -- but she didn't feel like holding up an interrogation at the moment. Plus, Link seemed to be handling that part on his own.

Instead, she just glanced around the meadow a moment, taking in the ruined steps that led up to the Forest Temple. Well, that certainly impaired any normal routes to reaching the Temple. _Oh, that's just great_, Karin thought. _Just go and destroy the steps. Hell, we don't need those, we can just fly! Next thing the person who destroyed the steps will say is that we don't need legs, we can just learned to walk on our hands and hold our weapons in our mouths._

She turned back to Nila before asking, "So, if you were killing the moblins, then why do you keep staring at us? You'd think you'd go off hunting more of those... Though, given their size, they can't be that hard to find..."

Nila rolled her eyes and was about to reply, but stiffened, turning swiftly to face the Temple. Karin folded her arms and scoffed inwardly as Nila rolled her eyes. Atreyu soon came back down from the sky, perching on her shoulder and whispering something in her ear. Nodding once -- and whispering something in reply -- Atreyu took off once more.

Well, his news was certainly welcome. She hadn't been nervous, per se, but at least now she wasn't as tense. At least it removed some of the 'pressure'.

Anyway, at the Temple entrance, nothing could he heard or seen, but Link felt something dark stir within it. Nila's golden eyes narrowed, and she shook her head, murmuring something to herself in the Sheikah tongue.

Then, in the common Hylian speech, she murmured, "The Darkness returns... Where is Saria? She can't have gone in already..."

"Saria went into the Forest Temple?" asked Link.

"I... am not sure. I don't sense her, but that doesn't mean anything."

What was up with this girl? How could she sense the Sages? Once more, Link wondered who she really was. "You must have passed through the Kokiri village, though. Surely you saw whether she was there or not?"

She frowned, so Link asked, "Didn't you come through the village to get to the Lost Woods?"

"No. I used a Lost Door. They are a great many scattered throughout this place... Have you tried to reach your friend through her song?"

Link blinked in surprise. He shook his head, stunned for a moment, before demanding, "How the hell do you know about... about Saria's song?"

Nila gave a cheshire smile. "Because I know Saria..."

"But she only teaches that song to her closest friends... How could you be her friend? I've never seen you in this forest before..."

"That's easily explained. I met her while you were gone."

Link gave Nila an odd look, then fished his ocarina out of that lovely endless pouch. He lifted it to his lips and was about to play the first note of Saria's song, when a sudden movement from Nila caught his eye. He glanced up at her in time to see the girl scrabbling up the bottom remaining steps of the temple (she must have jumped, though how she jumped high enough, he didn't know). She remained crouched at the entrance, staring into the dark opening with a troubled look on her face. Then, she glanced down at Karin and Link, as if calculating something. She then stood up.

"Link," she said. "Please try to contact Saria..."

"Why?"

Nila shook her head. "... I fear I... No... Nevermind.. Just contact her!"

Pressed by the urgency of her voice, Link played Saria's lively little song, trying to reach her. For a long moment, there was no connection; he could not feel her presence through a thick darkness. Then, as if clawing his way through something... Link felt a tenuous mental connection with Saria.

_Link? Link! _

- Saria! Where are you? -

The Temple... Broken seal... came with Navi to ... mend... I ...

The connecting broke for a moment, in which Link frantically called out to his friend.

_The con.. ... can't... hold.. long time... Darkness... too strong... Link!  
_  
And the connection completely severed with a painful jerk. Link opened his eyes, not realizing he had just shouted Saria's name aloud; Shouted her name a couple of times, actually. The Hero of Time had been -- at least, as far as Karin could see -- completely out of it. Connections she could grasp; a Hero who was shouting someone's name two or three times -- therefore likely to draw attention -- she couldn't. Besides, for all she knew he could have been in some sort of trance or something.

"Link!" Karin snapped, and snapped her fingers in front of his face a few times. "Snap out of it!"

Seeing him come back to grips with reality, she sighed. "Better?" She asked, looking at him before stealing a glance to Nila once more... Just in time to see Nila disappearing into the Temple.

Link blinked at Karin and arched an eyebrow; he didn't realize he'd been shouting. Looking up at Nila as she entered the temple, he said, "Saria went in to try and fix the seal..."

Ausranila's voice echoed out of the entrance, saying, "I heard... I'd hurry if I were you..."

Then a clicking sound and Nila's hiss of, "Damn it... I hate Skulltulas.."

Link grabbed Karin around the waist and fired his hookshot up at a tree branch over the platform. With a bit of a jerk, they were pulled up and then dropped neatly upon said platform. Link released Karin with a murmured apology and put his hookshot away, instead drawing the Master Sword and his shield.

Karin drew her weapons as the scritch-scratching sound got louder, and looked around for the "skulltulas". Upon seeing one of the spiders, she rushed forward to attack it... And her sword struck armor. The Skulltula spun quickly, but only managed to hit her arm as she raised her dagger to deflect most of the attack.

"...And I hate spiders," She agreed, backing up a little bit. She was pretty afraid of them; her fear of spiders bordered on arachnophobia. She rushed forward again, ducking under one of the eight legs and slashing her sword at the stomach of the creature. It fell to the ground... And brushed up against her leg.

Karin emitted a short shriek and jumped back where Link was, her grip on her weapons tightening as the scratching increased in number. "Uh... Link?" She asked. "You mind taking care of them? I could... Uh... Go check on Nila..."

Nila, leaving a trail of dead Skulltullas (which were quickly replaced by more from the nest), disappeared into the temple proper, swiftly by-passing the traps just because she wasn't Link, so the temples didn't spite her.

Link, meanwhile, smirked at Karin, not making any comments, mind, but just laughing silently at her. Then, he moved past her, quickly stunning skulltulas with an initial blow to send them rocking, then finishing them with a quick slice across the back. Man, he wished all monsters were this easy. Skultullas finished for now, he slipped through the other door and waited for Karin.

Karin followed him through the door, coming face to face with the room with the four torches. Nothing seemed to be there... At first. She quickly descended the steps and headed towards the door (and the elevator), when the elevator dropped and the four Poe Sisters formed.

Now Karin -- who was scared of spiders -- commented, "Woah, ghosts! Kick ass!"

They laughed at her and disappeared, causing her to frown.

"Damn ghosts. They never stick around long, do they?" She turned to Link, asking, "So, do you have any idea where they might've gone?"

She would have normally asked Atreyu, but her hawk -- much as he _loved_ to hang out with her -- hated to be confined in a building. So he was just circling outside, not daring to fly into the Forest Temple -- even if it was large. Besides, she was going to be helping Link out, so she might as well find out where the sisters decided to disappear to.

Link, meanwhile, rolled his eyes slightly at Karin's... umm... reactions, and she glared in return, although the glare was more of a taunt, what with the smirk splayed upon her lips. However, he ignored her and thought for a moment, trying to recall the first time he went through the insane asylums for deranged monsters and labyrinth makers that were the temples.

"If I remember rightly, two of them are in staircases, one is in a large hall and the other one... I can't remember exactly where she was. Here, I think, but she only appeared once the other four had been taken care of." He sighed. "Shall we split up, or take them down one at a time? Given the traps and annoying puzzles... "

"Well, we can split up," She told him loftily. "Though I don't know. You seem to be reacting a bit slow today... Sure you won't get lost?"

Not that she knew how he reacted like. She had only just met the guy. But currently, he was coming off as a real jerk. Maybe it was the stress, or maybe it was something else, but he seemed to be a bit...off, to Karin anyway. So a bit of taunting and provoking on her part should get him to wake up a bit.

Link was indeed distracted by... something. It was as though there was something or several somethings he should know stuck nagging at the back of his mind, but try as he might to remember it, it just refused to make itself clear. Very odd sensation.

Anyway, Link blinked at Karin and sighed. "No. I won't get lost." A sardonic grin curved his lips. "I've been going through weird dungeons and temples designed by a room full of sadistic drunk bastards since I was eleven. Besides, this one isn't nearly as bad as the Goddess-damned Water Temple (he spat those four words out with distaste). See you at the door to the central chamber."

And with that, he was off, down one or other corridor towards the staircase, which held one of the Poe sisters, if he remembered rightly.

Anyway, Karin herself wasn't worried. Though she hated spiders, she could kill them if need be; and if she got lost... She'd figure it out. Where she came from, she was a "warrior"; that was a lose term for someone who had been trained in the art of combat and even a few magical spells -- though she was horrible at magic. She was supposed to be a Healer, but her older brother had been her role model, and as such she had decided to follow in his footsteps rather than abiding by her parents wishes... Besides, she wasn't that bad at it. With a bit of special training from her brother, she had become a natural. At least, he said so.

Of course, she hadn't graduated from school yet -- not that she had a choice. After what had happened... Well, it didn't matter to Karin. Though she hadn't graduated and received her own guardian spirit, she had Atreyu -- and even though he was the guardian spirit of her older brother, he still helped her. She was wearing her brother's pendant, after all. Folding her arms, she kept her taunting smirk and loosened her glare a bit; her golden eyes sparkling with a mischievous glint

She headed straight towards the staircase in front of her, jogging up and pulling open the door. And what should she meet besides another skulltula? Cursing quietly to herself, she stabbed it in the back with her sword when it turned around, causing it to fall and die in front of her.

"Dumb ass..." She muttered, stepping over the fallen spider to continue through to the other side.

Now she was in a courtyard, complete with a well and a lake of water. In the lake she saw something that looked like an octopus, save for the fact that it was trying to shoot her with rocks. And directly in front of her...

"Since when did plants have teeth?" She asked no one in particular, jumping to the side as the huge deku baba tried to snap her head off. Swinging her sword, she sliced the plant a couple times -- getting bit in the process, no less -- and defeated it.

"Hyrule is even weirder than I originally thought," She commented, sheathing her sword. "And I used to think Westaria was weird..."

Glancing around, she noticed more of the Skulltula's on a vine covered wall. She grimaced, noticing that she had no way to get them down.

"That's just peachy..." She thought to herself, and then yelled, "Yeah! Just infest the wall, why don'tcha ya? Stupid spiders..."

Of course, she wasn't completely helpless. Picking some rocks up from the ground, she threw them up at the spiders. The first two went down easily, but the third one was beyond her range. Knowing that she ran the risk of being mobbed by the eight legged freak, she began to climb up the vines.

And she was right. As soon as she got close enough, a bright purple light shone from the insect and it rushed towards her, knocking her off.

"Son of a bi-aaaaah!" She screamed, and landed flat on her back on the grass. Cursing, she rolled onto her stomach and lay there for a moment, wincing from the pain that was shooting through her back. Once she was able to stand again, she put her dagger in her left hand and started climbing once more.

It took four tries before she finally got it right -- and four painful meetings with the ground. Finally, on her fifth try, she managed to stab the skulltula with her dagger when it got too close. She turned her head to watch it fall, smirking. "Yeah, how does it feel to fall to the ground?" She yelled down, and then climbed the rest of the way up.

She walked into the next room, got cursed for a little while by floating heads with blue smoke around them, but eventually managed to slay them and made her way through.

"A treasure chest? Hell yeah!" She cheered, and opened it up. Reaching in she pulled out... A Dungeon Map.

"A map." She muttered, staring at it. Shrugging, she rolled it up and put it in her pocket. "You know, I think this place thinks that I'll be the one getting lost..."

Meanwhile...

Link stepped into a familiar room, not even bothering to look behind him as a metal grate slid over the door with a thud. Shifting his grip upon his sword only slightly, he dropped into a fighting stance, then whirled around as a Stalfos leapt out of nowhere at him. With the practiced ease that comes only with fighting a million Stalfos, Link dispatched the first one, the second one, the third one and the fourth one with little effort.

The bars slid back up into the doorway, and a small chest became visible in the center of the room. Within it was a key. With a sigh, he picked it up and headed towards the door to the next room.

And Back to Karin...

"If I never, _ever_ see another one of those stupid Skulltula's again..." Karin muttered, wiping a few specks of blood away from her new bite marks. Apparently she was attracting the insects, for they kept chasing after her and biting her. She was now in a room that had arrow markings on the floor. Shrugging, she followed them... And reached a giant red block.

"Let me guess. I'm supposed to somehow walk through this block, or blow it up, or something else. Well you know what? I'm not going to! Link can do it!" She said once more to no one in particular. Walking around, she found a ladder and ascended it, reaching the second floor...

And a green block.

"I already said I'm not doing it," She muttered, "You spirits or whatever can just listen."

Walking around the maze once more, she jumped a couple times, pressing her feet off the wall as she did so. Reaching up, she grabbed onto a ledge (that the blocks were supposed to help her reach -- and grabbed it, heaving herself up once more.

Reaching into the pocket of her trenchcoat - turned - cape, she pulled out a small, silver key that she had gotten earlier from a chest. She pushed it into the lock, turned, and the chains fell away.

"Okay..." She muttered, staring at the chains on the ground. "That was odd..." She opened the door and found herself in a twisted, weird corridor. "And this is even weirder."

She walked through the corridor -- not even daring to ask how she was able to walk a straight line through a twisted hallway -- and ended up in a room with different ledges and a locked door.

She was about to jump over to the lock door when she heard a strange whirring noise. Frowning, she looked around, and then noticed that the shadow under her was larger than it was supposed to be.

"Uh-oh..." She muttered, backing up. Without warning, a large hand dropped down and held her tight, starting to drag her.

"Let go of me!" She yelled, struggling to get out of its grasp. The Wallmaster, however, didn't seem to want to listen, and began dragging her down through the floor. Growling, Karin grabbed her sword and shoved it through the hand, forcing the creature to release her.

"That's it," She snarled, "You and me buddy! Right now!" She launched herself towards the Wallmaster, and both of them fell off the ledge and onto the floor. After picking herself up, Karin took a few swipes at it and destroyed it.

"That's what you get for trying to kidnap me..." She muttered. "I don't know if you realized it or not, but I am not a damsel in distress." She climbed back up the ladder and hopped across the ledges, grabbing yet another key and unlocking the next door.

We Now Return To The Regularly Scheduled Link...

And Link was in another room... with Stalfos. Oh joy. Joy upon endless Joy! Just what he'd always wanted! More Stalfos...

Hissing irritably through his teeth, Link sliced and crashed his way through the Stalfos - six of them this time - but did not escape injury this time. No, he had a nasty, jagged cut down his right shoulder. However, he ignored the pain. Chances are, he'd get worse scrapes before he was done with this goddess-damned temple... again.

At the far end of the room sat a rather large treasure chest. Not really expecting to find anything in it - he already had the fairy bow, after all - Link sheathed his sword and pushed the heavy lid open. To his great surprise, however, there was a strange emerald sort of crystal glimmering in the bottom and emitting a faint light. Interesting... and shiny! Navi would have gone nuts if she was here...

Link bent over, reaching in and picking up the crystal. It was cool to the touch, yet warm, and it reminded him strongly of the forest. Of any forest. Of trees, plants, and greenery. His deep blue eyes traveled over the facets for a long moment, and he thought he saw a faint gold glimmer of a Triforce shape deep within, but he wasn't entirely sure. The crystal was a bit smaller than his palm.

He had just slipped it into his pocket of endless space when something felt wrong. A low rumbling snarl reverberated through the air. Link drew his sword and shield just in time for something sharp and strong to slam into his back - no.. three or four somethings. Claws, probably - shredding through tunic, undershirt and flesh on his left shoulder. At the same time, another three or four somethings scored his lower back, right side. Needless to say, he was sent flying to the ground with a pained cry. Groaning and grimacing - Farore, did that hurt! - he rolled onto his back as the thing leapt again, long black talons screeching upon the stone where Link had been. Staggering to his feet, Link brought up his sword just in time to block yet another lunge. Damn, that thing was fast!

Link only got a good look at it for the brief second in which it was still, but that was enough. It was a creepy dragon thing. Its body shape was an odd cross between a cat's and a rabbit's, with long hind legs possessing large, leapable feet (complete with their own long black talons). It's front limbs were structured like a cat's, with four long curved claws, formerly black, but now dripping the crimson liquid that was Link's blood. Stiff tannish green bristles stood out and back in a mane on the head, semi-long neck, and in a thin column down it's back to the lashing tail. At the end of the tail, a tuft of the stiff hair formed a point kind of like a paintbrush.

The snout of the creature was not terribly long - more like a dog's than a cat's or a rabbit's - but it had large nostrils and long, pointy teeth that were a poisonous looking green. With Link's luck, they probably held venom... deadly venom... or at least venom that caused extreme pain or was sure to infect your wounds. Or all of the above. Its lips were pulled back in a rather scary snarl. Its glowing ruby eyes contrasted sharply with the obsidian slit pupils, and they held a spark of intelligence normally not found in the average temple monster. Maybe in the bosses, but not the random Lizafos or whatever. They also held a sadistic sort of look that most evil things seemed to have. Link was sure this would be fun... _not!_

The freaky dragon thing was covered in scales, as any creepy dragon thing ought to be, but they were rather pretty scales. Probably harder than steel, but pretty nonetheless. They were a dark foresty emerald color, but they had a lighter opalescent sheen that made them seem to shift shades with any movement. One of them there scales might fetch a pretty penny in Castle Town... or might hold Navi's attention for an eternity.

But Link was not thinking about the scales. He was thinking about how the hell he could kill this thing before it ripped any more bits of flesh from him. Now that he was more ready for the thing, it paused, licking the blood and whatnot off of its claws. Then, with the same insane speed as before, it leapt into the air, aiming for Link's head, but changed directions mid-leap and wound up diving for his legs. Well, Link hadn't expected that, and he didn't adjust quite fast enough to avoid a nasty swipe across one shin. Lucky him...

Five more leaps, and two more wounds (one almost perpendicular to the Stalfos-inflicted one, and yet another on his other shin ) later... Link wondered how the hell he could beat this thing... The Master Sword didn't even scratch the scales, and the one Light arrow he'd managed to fire off did no good, either. The creature had been temporarily stunned, but otherwise was fine.

Karin entered the room just in enough time to see Link facing off against the huge dragon thing. For a moment, she didn't do anything, but then watched as his sword bounced harmlessly off of the scales. Now, she knew she should be helping. It'd only be right to help out her friend when he was in the middle of getting owned by a gigantic, scale-covered, talon using, bird thing. However... She only had a sword and dagger herself, and if Link's sword wasn't doing any good...

She watched the fight from the doorway for a moment before trying something of her own. She laced her fingers together in a moment in a sign, before switching their positions rapidly. Finally placing her hands down on the floor she yelled, "Rai!"

Lightning came down from the ceiling, aiming directly for the bird... thing..., but didn't do a single bit of good. Instead it was reflected, and hit a wall. "Okay..." Karin muttered. Her magick was always weak anyway; she was never really any good with it. "Maybe some other elementals will work... Hey, Link! Have any ice on you?"

"Urlg... Gee thanks. That _really_ helps..." snapped Link, at the epitome of sarcasm as one of the lightening bolts that bounced off struck him in the chest and sent him flying into the wall.

She knew that her chances of getting fire were pretty slim, but she had lit that candle that one time... Maybe this time she could just get a little more than a spark? Forming more hand seals, she concentrated her energy, "Katon!"

It didn't work. Regaining her focus, she tried three more times before she finally got it. Fire erupted beneath the bird, and its scales flashed red for a moment before fading. Frowning, she looked back to see if Link had heard her.

Though it didn't seem to care about the fire, the freaky dragon thing was distracted by this newcomer... with magick. Its eyes flicked between Link as he staggered to his feet, pulling out bow and arrow again, and Karin, as if deciding which was a bigger threat. It decided upon Link for no other reason than that Link was closer and already wounded. The creature's eyes blazed with bloodlust. (After all, Hero of Time blood is among the most tasty bloods.)

At the same time, leaning sort of against the wall for support, Link held his arrow cocked and drawn. A tingling sort of feeling washed through him, accompanied by the thrill of magic. He didn't know why, but magic that came from inside always had this feeling... A strange exhilaration... Anyway, due to this being ice magic, the feeling was chilly, and a bluish, crackling light blossomed upon the arrow point.

The creature opened its mouth to attempt to grab Link by the throat or something, and that happened to be its big mistake. Link released the arrow and it went straight into the throat and down it's gullet a few inches, piercing the trachea and possibly an artery, for some greenish looking blood dribbled out of its mouth, sizzling upon the floor. Anyway, it's eyes widened in surprise and pain as the blue fire spread through its body, turning it to ice. The last part to turn to ice was its lashing tail. And then it slammed into the floor a few feet in front of Link, shattering and skidding at the same time. And guess who it skidded into due to the laws of inertia? That's right. Link. Or at least it would have if he hadn't rolled out of the way. As it was, several small shards of ice struck him, though only one did any harm as it left a thin scratch across his cheek.

He remained in a crouch, breathing in ragged gasps. "Nayru, Din and Farore..." he breathed alongside a rather colorful stream of expletives used to describe the creature.

Then, he sank back against the wall with a soft groan. His right hand - the left arm and shoulder aching too much and bleeding too much to be of much good - reached into his endless space pouch, fishing around for a bottle. He doubted he had any healing potions, pink fairy spirits or even a glass of milk. He pulled each bottle out, glanced at the lack of contents, and sighed.

"Of all the times not to have a bloody potion or damn fairy..." he muttered, then looked up at Karin. "You wouldn't happen to have a fairy spirit or a healing potion, would you? Or even be able to heal wounds? 'Cause, you know, I'm kind of in pain and I think that thing tore up some ligaments in my shoulder that really ought to have been left in tact. Oh, and there are some other places that are torn up, too... And I really don't like having all my clothing stained blotchily red that'll just turn brown in a day or two. Blood just isn't a high quality dye, you know..." He flashed her a grin.

"Really? I would have never guessed," Karin retorted, rolling her eyes at his dye remark. She walked over and began making more hand seals, commenting, "This won't be very strong. I suck at magic, and even though I was _supposed_ to be a Healer, I completely ignored my parents and became a fighter instead... Zenkai!"

She placed his hands over his wounds, and a brief white light came from them, healing the wounds mostly. It wasn't a complete fix, but at least the ones that were almost fatal were healed. She repeated the gesture a few times, finally healing the small scrape on his cheek. "There," She stated. "I can't heal clothing, and as for the blood, you're going to have to try getting that out whenever we get out of here." She stood up, brushing herself off.

"Thank you very much," said Link, the twisted expression on his face relaxing as things stopped hurting. He could tell things weren't quite ship-shape, but they'd finish healing on their own soon enough. That was one blessing... He did heal quickly.

He pushed himself to his feet and looked down at his somewhat tattered clothing. Then he sighed. "Eh... I swear I've gone through more tunics," he muttered.

Glancing to the creature, Karin asked, "What _was_ that thing, anyway?"

Link picked up his bow and slung it on his back before looking at the icy carcass of the creature. Shrugging he replied, "Something new. Probably a really well bred or hybrid Lizafo... or something. Navi might know... I'll ask her when and if we find her... Find anything interesting, like the ghosts, maybe?"

"Well, I found pictures of one," She pointed to the door, which she had came through. "But no actual ghosts. I did manage to find a spider nest, though," She scowled, pointing to numerous bites. "And this hand tried to kidnap me... Not to mention a plant with fangs, and an octopus thing that kept trying to shoot me. Oh, and did I mention the spiders on the wall and that kept knocking me off and sending me to meetings with the ground? Other than that, I didn't find anything except for a few keys." She folded her arms. "You know, this Temple is infested with freaks."

True, that it was. Between Poe Sisters, Deku Babas, Skulltulas, Wallmasters, Octorocs, and the Big-Bird-Cat-Rabbit-Dragon-Thing-Of-Doom, it was well beyond anything Karin had ever run into before. Problem for the pair of them was, it was almost certainly going to get worse. It nearly always seemed to.

"Pictures of one? Oh. You have to shoot one of the pictures and the ghost'll come out, I think. If it's the room I'm thinking of, anyway," said Link with a sigh. "And get used to it. There are weird monsters in every temple. Oh, and the octopi are called Octorocs, the plant with fangs is a Deku Baba, and the hand thing was either a Floormaster or a Wallmaster, although if it tried to kidnap you rather than just suck some of your energy, then it was probably a Wallmaster. You can tell when one is about to drop by the fact that your shadow suddenly becomes larger and rounder than it ought... Or by the fact that there's a giant hand shadow overlaying yours... Oh, I can't recall how many times I've had those things land on my head and drag me back to the entrance to the temple, but Floormasters are worse."

He sighed again, then cracked another grin. "I think I should write a book about them. Sure to be a best seller... A title could be '1000 Freaky Things to Scare Your Children.' "

And then he pushed open the door Karin went through and waited for her to follow.

She did so. "Or you could title it, 'Annoying Beasts and How To Kill Them', you know, one of those how-to books. And it was probably a Wallmaster... Damned hand..." She looked up, and a picture of the Red Poe Sister (Joelle) was in front of her. However, the ghost promptly disappeared. "Yeah, that's the one," She commented, shaking her head. "You'd think that she'd want to come out, but no. No, instead, she has to keep switching from picture to picture. Idiot."

She climbed up the stairs, and Joelle disappeared from yet another portrait. Turning back to Link, she gave a small grin. "But hey, this is nothing new for you, right? So, what do we do, Ocarina boy?"

Link sighed. Well, she was just as bad as Navi could be, except that Navi occasionally offered helpful advice. And if Navi wouldn't shut up, Link could always stuff her in a bottle or in his hat. He quirked an eyebrow at the 'ocarina boy' title. "Now that's one I've never been called before," he said. "Anyway, you can start by standing still and NOT walking towards the paintings. That's what triggers her to leave. Just be ready to hit her with something, preferably something that will 'kill' the poe."

"Alright, alright," She remarked, standing still.

He then lifted his bow, a regular arrow nocked and ready for firing. And then he released it smack into the picture in which the Poe had just appeared again. With that weird little chitter she popped out of the painting looking irked and swinging her lantern. Link swiftly nocked another arrow and sent it flying into the ghost.

When the ghost came out, Karin wondered aloud, "And here I thought you couldn't kill things that weren't already dead."

She grabbed her sword and dagger and jumped at it, putting up her dagger so that its flat edge was facing the ghost. The lantern hit it, making a slight clanging noise, and she kept her stance firm to allow the lantern to hit it a few a more times.

As soon as the ghost decided to stop swinging -- and in the seconds before it could disappear -- Karin lashed out with her sword and caught it once. Joelle put her arms up for a second before disappearing, leaving only the lantern visible.

Karin waited for a few seconds before they went into the same routine, only able to get a few hits in at a time. She also made sure to keep the corners of her golden eyes on Link, just in case one of his arrows decided to go away from the target and aim for her instead.

Link waited for the ghost to reappear, and for Karin to move out of the way. Then, he shot the ghost with a Light Arrow, grinning as it shrieked and melted into a little reddish flame. "Now why couldn't I have gotten the Light arrows BEFORE going through all the temples?" he muttered to himself as he put his bow away and hopped down the stairs to where the flame thing sizzled and looked annoyed.

It stared up at him with a mixture of malevolence and fear. Link crouched next to it, reached out, and poked it. It chittered, and then vanished with the whispered words, "So easy not my sisters be..."

Link sighed and stood up again. "One down, three to go..."

"'So easy not my sisters be?'" Karin repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Looks like these ghosts need to learn how to talk."

Link shrugged. "They're ghosts. They're too busy being really annoying to be bothered with making sense."

Karin went back through the door to the dragon room, crossing over to the next side. She knew Link would follow anyway, and besides, she was impatient. Three ghosts left meant that they probably still had three quarters of the Temple to explore, and she didn't want to spend any more time in it; pretty as it was, she kept hearing a song whispered to her, and kept getting chills as if spirits were brushing up against her. It wasn't a nice feeling.

Link followed Karin; she was going where he was headed anyway. As a note, he heard a faint tune as well, but he'd gotten used to the faint songs of temples and dungeons a long time ago. Even in the hot and sticky innards of Jabbu-Jabbu, there'd been the gentle background thrumming of the fish's large vocal chords. It had never really freaked him out much (except in the Shadow Temple where it wasn't music so much as voices. Tormented voices of the dead... The perfect accompaniment to the skeletons, mutilated corpses and all manner of other unsavory things dragged into the Shadow Temple by the creatures which had invaded it, not to mention the dark and unpleasant dreams which prevented him from catching even an hour of sleep during the two or three days he was wandering that labyrinth.)

So, it never really freaked him out much, probably because there'd always been the distant singing of the fairies or the other Kokiri during his childhood, and in the Lost Woods, there were the constant melodies of the Skull Kids, sometimes the Kokiri, and fairies, too...

The moment she opened the door on the opposite side, she saw more ghost pictures -- this time of a blue one. "Link!" She called, standing in the doorway. "Come over here, we have another ghost!"

Link followed Karin into the room and gazed up at the portrait. Thankfully, this wasn't the one where he'd had to push all the stupid blocks together to form the picture. He shot an arrow into Beth's picture and out she came with an irritated chitter. Wow. Just sooo much different than the first ghost... So, he fired a Light arrow at her, too.

Karin just watched as he hit the ghost with the Light Arrow, which quickly vanquished it. "Alright," She said after Link had successfully dealt with Beth. "There are two left, right? If I remember, they were purple and green... Well, since I never really liked purple, I'll take that one. Besides, you're wearing green. That automatically assigns you that color." She grinned at him and started up the stairs. "They should have pictures like these two, right?"

"Umm... Sort of," said Link. "One of them appears outside the elevator once you've killed the other three and splits into four copies, but you can tell the real copy because it will spin around once before attacking you. So, shoot it with an arrow, or thwack it with something. The other ghost requires the solving of a puzzle before you can fight it. There'll be a bunch of blocks on the floor and on the tops are pieces of a picture of the ghost. You push the blocks together correctly and you can see the picture of the ghost on top. The blocks then disappear and you're left with the ghost."

He grinned suddenly. "By the way, the block one is purple. Have fun... I'll be waiting at the elevator..."

"W-What? Hey! Wait!" Karin shouted, running after him. "I didn't do the blocks in that other room, and I'm not doing those either."

And that was true. The green and red block that she was _supposed_ to have fixed into place so that Link could freely get around before were still in their places.

"So _I'll_ go to the elevator, and you can go find the purple ghost! See you then!" She ran off before he could say another word.

Going back the way she had come, she eventually reached the center room, where two of the four torches were lit. She also came face to face with Meg.

"Hey... Aren't you supposed to be in the block room?" She asked, tilting her head.

"No... Amy sister in block room, she is." Meg replied in a raspy tone. Karin nodded.

"So he was trying to trick me? Oh, he'll get it for that." She hopped to sit by one of the unlit torches. "So, why are you haunting this place?"

"My sisters and I died, we did," Meg replied. Her way of speaking was slightly better than Joelle's, but not by much. "We died here,"

"How?"

"We came in here so late one night, on a trip were we," Meg began, "And then my sisters and I died, did we."

"Uh-huh..." Karin trailed. "How?"

"There was a monster, and it killed us, it did."

"I see. So, where did you live before you died?"

"Kakariko."

"Really? Was it nice there?"

"Except in the winter, it was. We used to have cuccos, we did."

"Really?" Karin grinned. "How many?"

And thus began their conversation...

Meanwhile...

Link grit his teeth in annoyance, then trudged into the block room, cursing blocks, puzzles, ghosts and temples. Still grumbling, he delt with the blocks Karin had left, then moved into the room with the puzzle. It wasn't hard, and the blocks weren't _too_ heavy, thankfully.

The puzzle now completed, Link stepped back as a ghost appeared. It regarded him for a moment, then swung it's lantern to attack. Link dodged the whirling object of light and pegged the ghost with a light arrow. Really, Light arrows were wonderful!

After poking the small colored flame, and hearing it hiss something - he didn't really pay attention to what it said - Link made his way back to the elevator, where three torches now burnt. Coming out of a doorway, he spied Karin... talking with the ghost..?

Gazing warily at Meg, Link walked towards them. His sword was sheathed, and his bow looped on his back. Looking first from the ghost to Karin, he interrupted, "Um... might I ask what's going on here? How come she" -he pointed at the ghost - "Talks to you, whereas me the ghosts just attack?"

Karin looked up with an expression that suggested it _should_ be obvious. "Have you ever _tried_ talking to them?" She asked. "They're actually really nice."

"I think we are supposed to fight now," Meg suggested. Karin frowned and hopped off the ledge.

"Fine, but I expect you to tell me the rest of that story first."

"Tell you the story, I will,"

"Great! You were at the part where you put the cuccos on Anju's bed..."

"Oh, yes," Meg split into different copies and began circling around Karin, who watched warily. "Put them in her bed, we did. It upset her allergies, and made red dots appear on her skin,"

"Really? For how long?" Karin asked, stabbing the real Meg with her sword. After a few moments, Meg replied,

"Three weeks, it lasted."

"Three weeks?" Karin started laughing, stabbing Meg with her sword again. "I bet she was pissed off,"

"She likes her cuccos, angry she was not." Meg replied easily. "She was just wondering who put them there,"

"So, which one of you was it?"

"Beth, it was,"

"Hmm... Beth did seem like she liked to cause trouble. But isn't she always with Joelle?"

"Yes,"

"Yeah, I kinda figured that. Their picture rooms are pretty much right next to each other." She stabbed Meg once more and then added, "Well, one more hit probably, right?"

"One more hit, yes,"

"Well, don't worry. I'll come back and visit sometime, Meg!"

"Visit, you will."

"Alright then," Karin stabbed Meg with the sword again, then put her weapons away. Returning to the flame on the torch, Karin added, "See you around, Meg! Tell your sisters I said hi!"

She moved off where Link was standing as the elevator rose. "They're really not that bad, once you get to know them." She told him. "They're just lonely,"

Link just stared at Karin and the ghost. Then, he shook his head, running a hand through his hair. And he sighed, walking towards Karin and the elevator.

"I did ask them questions on occasion, but they never answered. Most of the temple monsters wouldn't... Granted, when you have dangerous creatures hell-bent on doing any number of painful things to you, you really aren't in the mood to talk, especially not to the creatures hell-bent on killing you," said Link, explaining his rational. "Now then, shall we go find Saria and Nila?"

Karin nodded. "I see your point. I don't know why they were bent on destroying you, though. Meg seemed nice enough to me. Of course," She scowled, "the other monsters in here weren't. They were freaking jerks."

"Because I'm the Hero of Time," explained Link, irritably. "And because I'm Link, and apparently I taste good, too."

Karin nodded and entered the elevator with him, adding, "Anyway, we should hurry up with finding them. Let's just hope that there aren't more spiders involved..."

Ah, yes. That'd be just what Karin needed: more spiders. As the elevator touched down on the floor, she hopped off and glanced around the room, asking,

"Let me guess. This is going to be another one of those puzzles that you have to work at, tiring yourself out just enough so that a monster can come down and attempt to destroy you. Am I right?"

Link, too, hopped off, scanning the room with his deep blue eyes. To Karin's question, he nodded. "Yeah. Something like that. This actually shouldn't be too bad..."

He stepped off of the platform and into a space between two large pillar things. Positioning himself carefully, Link began to push, and the thing turned fairly easily after the first heave.

Karin watched as the pillars spun, revealing numerous indents in the walls. One of them held another Skulltula (to her distaste), another held a switch, and yet another held a Gold Skulltula (again, to her distaste). Walking over, she stepped on the switch, and completely ignored the two spiders.

"Here, I'll get it..." She muttered, and pushed against another one of the sides. It took her a bit longer than Link, but it did start moving once more. They ended up alternating turns, and finally revealed a large ornate door with a giant keyhole on it.

Karin reached into the pocket of her trench coat and pulled out a golden key Link had found, but she had stolen. (She felt that since it matched her eyes, she should get to carry it. It wasn't like he had cared, anyway.) She pushed it into the lock, turned it, and the chains fell away. As the door opened, she turned to Link and stated, "Well, something tells me we're going to find them in this room," before walking up the stairs and into the next room.

The stairs led to a large circular room with pictures lining the walls. All of the pictures held the same thing; a picture of a seemingly haunted mansion with a twisting road. She walked to the center of the room, glancing at them all, before turning to Link.

"...I don't see another door. Shouldn't Saria and Nila be here?"

"No... They wouldn't be because they'd be in the inner sanctum, which you can get to only through this room... Instead of going there, we'll have to fight something... Whether it's the same monster as before remains to be seen."

Link's eyes slid from one portrait to the other, seeking the phantom, which had lurked here before. He held his shield and sword ready, though the sword would be the primary tool in this fray... unless, of course, he used a light arrow. He nearly grinned at the thought. With a light arrow, he wouldn't have to go through the ping pong game with the phantom... If the phantom was here, that is. As he stepped out of the entryway, a row of metal spikes shot upwards with lightening speed. Then, dark phantasmagoric laughter filtered through the air.

It then occurred to him, as a dark figure appeared in a couple of the paintings, that, since the phantom had a horse, maybe a bow and arrow would be better. Ergo, he sheathed his sword and hooked his shield in its place, then took out his bow and cocked an arrow. A light arrow. Might as well make this quick, no?

A dark horse and rider suddenly came flying out of one of the paintings, swinging a spear around, ready to skewer Link or Karin. However, Link was pretty accurate, and pretty speedy. Therefore, the creature shrieked in fury and pain as an arrow of light pegged it right in the chest, knocking it off of the horse, which disappeared.

During the time it took the phantom to recover, Link had put his bow away and drawn his sword. He leapt forward to slash at the phantom, but the creature managed to gain its wits again and leap out of the way, floating around the chamber, glaring down at them. Link thought to himself that Ganondorf was entirely too large, as was his phantom. Sheesh, both were nearly twice as tall as Link, and he wasn't _that_ short...

Anyway, the phantom gathered two orbs of dark energy in his hands, then flung them at Link and Karin.

Link thwacked the one aimed at himself back at the phantom...

And thus commences the tennis match.

Love : Love

Karin watched as the phantom summoned other energy ball, preparing to hurl it at Link. Then -- being the rash and not-really-stupid-just-not-thinking-before-acting person that she was, she jumped in front of the way and put up her dagger.

The energy ball did reflect off of it, but since her dagger was smaller, it sent her back against the ground. And unfortunately for her, Phantom Ganon hit it back, striking her dagger again -- this time, she only just managed to hit it in time.

It seemed that Phantom Ganon had probably hired a personal trainer, for he was better. He hit it back again, this time striking her in the chest and sending electrical surges through her body. She grit her teeth against it, starting to get irritated by his laughter.

"Yeah, yeah!" She yelled back at him. "I know, it's _so_ hilarious!" She got up and started towards him again, jumping to the side just as he threw another energy ball at her. Jumping towards the wall, she put her feet against one of the paintings and then pushed off, pointing her sword towards his arm.

He dodged, but to her satisfaction, it _was_ narrow. She landed back on the ground, spinning to put her dagger up to her chest.

"Link," She told him quickly. "I think I have a plan to get this over quickly. You play tennis with him, and then if you hit him and he's stunned, I'll attack. That way we won't waste any time. Okay? Good. Go." She then moved to the side as Ganon focused another attack and sent it straight at Link. Apparently, he either had hearing problems or he just wasn't smart.

15 : Love

Link rolled his eyes, proclaiming to Karin, as she leapt right in front of him a the phantom, "Din, you are an idiot..."

However, his pity for her lack of common sense did not keep him from deriving some amusement from her attempts to combat the Phantom. He rolled his eyes again when she announced her 'plan.'

"You know," he remarked as he thwacked an orb of dark magic right back at the Phantom. "That was what I originally intended to do."

The Phantom sent it hurling back at Link, who smacked it with his sword again Another few exchanges later, the Phantom swung to block it too late and his own dark energy careened into his chest, black lightening racing along his frame. He sank towards the ground, twitching... but only for a few moments: A brief time in which Karin could strike.

15 : 15

And strike she did, but not before performing another one of her spells. Lightning lit up around her blade -- bright enough, in fact, to give off quite a strong blow. She got in six quick strikes, creating a rather large hole in the phantom.

She dispelled the lightning as the phantom rose shakily into the air, summoning a rather weak energy ball and tossing it at Link.

"Oh yeah, _sorry_ for not knowing about things that I've never even seen before!" She snapped at Link, infuriated at his comment. "Where I come from, we don't have huge monster things inside of "Temples". All we have are statues. We also don't have monstrous spiders, or hands that are severed from bodies that try to kidnap you! So I'm terribly sorry that I've been such a bother to you, Link," She then turned back to Phantom Ganon, who was just now managing to get the ball to reach Link. (The others kept losing their power before they reached him, thanks to the electricity stunning him for a bit.)

15 : 30

Link sighed, again rolling his eyes. What Karin said was exactly his point: She didn't know what the heck she was supposed to do. "Well, use your brain next time and don't jump into situations where you don't have a clue as to what you're doing! That's my job..."

Upon hearing his ending comment, Karin rolled her eyes and muttered scathingly, "Hypocrite…"

He swung his sword, hitting the ball of darkness hard, and sending it flying back to the Phantom, who did not have enough energy to block it fast enough. Again, it crumpled to the ground, crackling with dark energy.

Since the Phantom didn't look quite like he's be getting up any time soon, Link moved closer to it, though he waited for Karin to leap in and attack.

Karin lit her blade up with lightning once more, still scowling as numerous angry thoughts interrupted her concentration. However, she did manage to get it lit, and this time it only took two swings before the Phantom was destroyed. .

15 : 40... Game, Set and Match.

This time, however, Ganondorf's voice didn't echo menacingly and mockingly. A blue light did appear though.

"And besides," Karin said out of nowhere, still replying to his earlier comment, "it's not like it matters if I get hurt. It'll heal. And if I don't jump in, how will I learn? I'll only learn from experience, and I can't get experience if I'm too afraid to jump in," She added, getting into the blue light. "Now come on, Ocarina boy. We have to find your friends."

"And there," said Link, ignoring her comments, "is the entrance to the inner sanctum..." He stepped next to Karin.

And then they appeared in the room of Sages…

* * *

**Umi: **Chapter three should be up soon – unlike this chapter. Thanks for reading, and please remember to drop a review in on your way out!

**Snarky**: Yaaah… Chapter three ought to be up in less than a month. Note that I said 'ought'. –sighs and stares mournfully at her lack of mochas- Please review? If I can't have coffee, then at least let me have my other addiction…. Pwease? Y'don't want me to go into withdrawal….


	4. Chapter 3

**The Legend of Zelda: Twisting Threads**

_Co-authored by Sargent Snarky and Umi Kanshisha_

Snarky: Well, as you can see, we've finally come up with a decent title. Also, I deeply apologize for taking so long with this chapter. You see, it's been finished for quite a while, BUT first my hard drive crashed, and I couldn't really do much computer-wise for a month. Then, school started and both Umi and I were very busy… and then I was waiting for Umi to do her part of the editing… and now, Umi's computer has been trashed by a virus, and she won't be around for a while. There are also other reasons behind this, but it's not my place to tell you for her.

SO, she asked me to go ahead and post this. Ergo, I am posting it. And, as soon as I edit Chapter 4, I shall go ahead and post that one as well.

With that said, if some things seem different here on out, it's because only I'm doing the editing, and I can't talk to Umi about it, alas.

As we've said before, this is a fanfic based entirely off of an ongoing roleplay between Umi and myself. Whether we'll ever finish the rp remains to be seen, but even if the roleplay winds up dying, I'll still try to continue this fic, methinks.

DISCLAIMERS:

Nila: -sighs dramatically- Ok… So, neither Snarky nor Umi actually own me or any other characters, items, places, things, et cetera in this story, EXCEPT for the characters they came up with and plot… Although, Umi will certainly claim that she owns certain characters, and Snarky will claim that she owns my hat… which neither of them do. Ok? Ok… Moving on…

Saria: Hi everybody! Ok… as for further Disclaimering… Snarky and Umi have borrowed certain ideas, information about Sheikah and information about Gerudo from the most awesome Rose Zemyla a.k.a. Lady Rose… WITH PERMISSION. But, seriously… Rose's stories are THE MOST AWESOME Zelda fanfics you will EVER read. So, go read Return and Reconciliation. Chop, chop!

* * *

_Chapter 3: Medallions, Triforce Pieces and Fairies_

Both Nila and Saria stood in the room, each looking rather concerned over something. The green medallion of the Forest floated in front of Saria, but in two pieces. The Sage of the Forest seemed to be trying to fuse the pieces back together.

She looked up at Nila. "It's no good... Even with the darkness gone from the Temple."

Nila nodded, then looked up at Link and Karin. She seemed about to say something, when fell shadows flickered across the room. The girl cried out softly, clutching her head for a moment, before glaring off into the distance, and holding her hands out in front of her, palms outward. A yellowish white glow spilled forth from them, and a flash permeated the room. Then the darkness disappeared.

Saria looked at Nila, concerned. "What was that?"

"Because Rauru... well, his spells of protection are crumbling..."

"Can't you fix them?"

Nila shook her head, gazing at the ground. "I.. don't know how."

Link broke in then (he had been, up until now, somewhat distracted and frazzled, what with Navi flying circles around his head, yelling at him). "What the heck are you two talking about? Nila, what are you doing here? What was that black stuff? What was that weird light? And what happened to the medallion? Oh.. and where's Rauru?" At least he asked the questions in a conversational tone.

Nila and Saria exchanged and uncomfortable glance.

"Slow down..." Karin muttered, and then noticed Navi. "And calm down, he's fine; he's the genius who knows everything." She rolled her eyes as she added the last sarcastic statement, turning back to Nila and Saria.

"Alright, I think what Link was trying to ask is: What's going on?" That would cover most of Link's questions, and Karin was still rather irked at him for the idiot comment fro before, so she just folded her arms and waited patiently for their answer.

Navi blinked at Karin, fluttering up in front of the girl's nose. "Ooh.. Who are you? You don't smell like you're from Hyrule.."

Karin shook her head at Navi. "No, I'm not from Hyrule, and my name's Karin."

Link ignored Navi, shot a glare at Karin, and looked expectantly at the two other girls. "Uh.. well..?"

"Rauru's dead," said Nila, softly. "Gannodorf killed him as he made his way back into Hyrule."

Link's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. A sneaking suspicion of what Nila really was nagged in his mind, but he figured she answer that soon enough.

"And the medallions all broke when the seal was broken," said Saria. "I was trying to fix the Forest Medallion, but..." She held up the two pieces. "It hasn't worked, obviously."

"The black stuff was energy from the rest of the Sacred Realm. This is only a small portion that Rauru was able to save from Ganondorf's corrupting influence, via the Triforce. But," continued Nila, "with Rauru gone, his protection is falling apart. Part of that, I think, has to do with the broken medallions... But..."

She sighed, shaking her head.

"I'm taking it that you can't fix the protections?" asked Link.

Nila nodded, looking unhappy.

"And you're the next Light Sage?"

Nila nodded again, shifting and looking somewhat more upset.

Link sighed. "And why does it matter if the Medallions are breaking?"

"The seals are bound up with them, as are some other protections..."

"Lovely..."

Tilting her head thoughtfully, Nila voiced an idea, which had occurred to her: "Say... Link, do you have any idea how to access the power of the Triforce of Courage?"

Karin, meanwhile, didn't understand everything they said completely, but she get the basis of it. When that Ganondorf freak had broken out, he had murdered someone, and in doing so, he split the pretty medallion that Saria was holding. Karin had to agree with Link. That _was_ just lovely. Not only was Ganondorf a murderer, but also he obviously had a thing for breaking jewelry.

However, what the Triforce of Courage was, Karin wasn't sure. When she was younger, her father had told her and her older brother stories of Hyrule, and the Triforce was in a lot of them, but... She was never one to pay very close attention (A/N: ADD perhaps?), and she always tuned out the explain-y bits. Wishing she hadn't now, she tried to split her attention between Nila, Saria, and Link.

Navi fluttered around Karin a little more. "Where are you from, then?"

"I'm from Westaria," Karin replied easily, then remembered with a touch of anger that it was where Draconis claimed he was from. Eh. Jerk.

Link, meanwhile, rubbed the back of his hand and shook his head, an odd look on his face as he regarded Nila and Saria. "No. Why? Is there a way to access it?""Of course," said Saria as if it was obvious. "Didn't you know that?"

Link shook his head. "Uh… No... I just thought it was just along for the ride."

Saria rolled her eyes.

"So, why and how, then?"

"Because we might be able to use the power of the Triforce, since its normal dwelling place is in this realm, to repair the protections upon this place and perhaps repair the medallions," said Nila. "As for how, well, Zelda and Ganondorf are the only ones who know for sure, and neither of them are available for questions... so.. I think you're on your own there."

"It's probably a lot like accessing our own powers," said Saria, after a moment.

"And you guys do that… how?"

"Like you access your own magic. You know, Din's Fire, Nayru's Love and Farore's Wind?"

"But that's fairy magic..."

"No it isn't. The Great Fairies were merely the ones to guard it. Anyway, it should be pretty easy to use the Triforce's power here, although it may be unpredictable, given that it does not have its sisters to balance it."

"They're sisters...? Oh never mind..."

Link sighed. Well, this wasn't going anywhere. Truth be told, he'd never really thought about accessing the piece of the Triforce residing within him. Now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense that he ought to be able to put it to use. He closed his eyes and concentrated upon summoning the power of the Triforce of Courage.

He felt it stir, but it did not come forth.

"Hmm.. Try harder. I'd say that was a tentative effort at best," remarked Nila as she pulled something out from beneath her tunic. Link saw that it was the Light Medallion, severed cleanly in two, although she'd done something to get both halves to hang upon a cord.

"Umm... Might I ask how you knew I was trying?" he asked.

Nila shrugged. "Maybe because technically you could call this my temple, ergo I can sense things in it? I honestly haven't a clue."

"Right..." Link sighed and tried once more, with a little more vehemence.

Suddenly, he cried out in surprise, eyes opening wide and staring at the back of his hand. Through the gauntlet, a brightly glowing triforce symbol, well, glowed. The medallions flickered in response, and, indeed, the air seemed to stir as well.

Nila arched an eyebrow. "That was interesting. You really ought to concentrate better, though."

Navi 'jumped out of the air' in surprise, landing upon Karin's shoulder.

Karin didn't feel anything, but then noticed the Triforce glowing upon the back of Link's hand. _It's pretty..._ She thought, gazing at it. _Though from the way that he yelped, it must have hurt or something..._

She felt Navi land on her shoulder, and turned her head slightly to offer the fairy a small smile. Sure, it was filled with monsters, spiders, freaks in black who came out of black voids of doom, but Hyrule did have an awesome point -- and it was the fact that fairies _actually_ existed. Or at least, that fairies felt comfortable enough around you to perch on your shoulder.

Anyway, to Link, the Triforce hurt and yet it didn't. It was sort of a burning prick, and yet it was a comforting warmth. The precise feeling was indescribable.

"Try again," said Saria with a smile. "But hold onto the connection this time."

Link sighed. He glanced over his shoulder at Karin and Navi, then closed his eyes and tried again. This time, he managed to hold a tenuous connection with its power. He could feel the Triforce's fire running through his veins. Gritting his teeth against that strange fire, he looked to Saria and Nila.

"Good," said Saria.

"Now concentrate upon one or both of the medallions and will them to mend..."

Karin watched as Link tried to focus his power. Her golden orbs occasionally flicked between the medallions and back again, and slowly -- ever so slowly -- the green one came together.

"Cool," She commented, watching as the Light medallion pieces struggled to fit themselves together. It took a few moments, but eventually they fit together; a seam was still visible, but they were, for the most part, together.

As the Forest Medallion began to heal, Saria exerted her influence on it as well, and a green glow surrounded it. Unfortunately, cracks were still visible, but the medallion was in tact again, and the varying protections it helped to support were re-bolstered.

Nila, too, helped in mending the Light Medallion as much as she was able. She could feel the barriers that kept the darkness out strengthen just a bit. Not as strong as they were by any means, but... they were enough... for now.

When the Medallions were as fixed as they were going to be, Link released the Triforce's power and fell to his hands and knees, breathing coming in gasps. Why the heck did Triforce magic have to be draining? It wasn't like it was _his_ power...

Or so he thought. But, then it occurred to him how channeling magic worked. Like Din's Fire, the energy to wield the power came from him and nothing else. Oh joy. ( A/N Looks like that magic meter is going to have to be upped again!) The glow faded from his hand.

Saria bent down next to him. "You gonna be all right?"

Link nodded, starting to stand up. However, though he managed to get to his feet, he swayed and stumbled. Then he gave up, and just sank to his knees again, clutching his head.

Nila and Saria regarded him sympathetically.

Karin bent down beside Link, grabbing one of his arms and putting it around her shoulders. "Easy," She told him quietly. "You don't want to push yourself too hard..."

She slowly stood up, holding his hand tightly in her own. Damn, he was heavy. Well, it probably wasn't him, just the sword and the shield that he had equipped. Whatever it was, pushing herself to her feet was difficult -- and it didn't help that she was shorter than he was.

Finally managing to get to her feet and hold Link steady, though after a few moments, he was able to stay standing with less support, the last words she heard were Saria's:

"Help the other Sages, Link. I know you can save Hyrule!"

She then found herself standing in the Sacred Forest Meadow, still managing to help balance Link. He murmured a thank you to Karin for her assistance. Yes, it was the sword and shield that weighed a lot. They were solid metal, after all. Link, on the other hand, was relatively light. I suppose it comes from a lot of physical labor (as in fighting things, lifting heavy objects, moving heavy objects, cleaning out temples, milking cows with a song, did I mention fighting things?) and never really eating a lot. Ok, so when he had the chance, his teenage appetite compelled him to eat a lot, but when one is out and traveling... it's kind of hard to satiate the teenage appetite most of the time.

Nila was there, as was Navi, but the voices that they heard next did not belong to either of them.

"LINK!"

Two bright orbs of light tackled Link in the face. One was yellow and white, and the other was purple with a red lining. A second later and Karin realized they were fairies; the one with the purple hair and red eyes was a boy, and the one with short and spiky platinum blonde hair was a girl.

"Link! Link! You have to help! It's terrible!" The boy cried, clasping onto Link's face. "It's--"

"Tael! Shut up!" The girl snapped. "He's my partner!"

"But sis--"

"He's MY partner, Tael!"

"Fine..."

Karin arched an eyebrow at the two. She had thought that Navi was Link's partner. Eh...

Navi had been hovering anxiously around Link before they teleported, asking him if he was all right, if he was sure he was all right, if he was really sure he was all right. Nila had finally snapped at the fairy, just as they teleported, "He'll be fine. Shut up already, Navi!"

And she had shut up until they reached the Meadow, and two other fairies she did Not recognize came flying in, shouting at Link. Navi just floated by, staring at them for a few moments. Then, she flew in front of Link, pushing the two other fairies away.

"Now, wait just a minute! What do you mean by calling him 'your partner'? Link is MY partner, you hear? He may not be Kokori, but I'm still his fairy," she shouted, not at all pleased.

Link looked cross-eyed at the two fairies tackling his nose, and then looked cross-eyed at Navi before looking back to the two other fairies.

"Navi, calm down," he said, still leaning against Karin, though now supporting most of his his own weight. "Talt, Tael, what are you doing here? I thought you two were in Termina... What's happened?"

His voice wasn't as strong as it usually was, but at least it was coherent. He was just strangely and extremely tired and shaky.

Navi rounded on him. "You /know/ these fairies!"

One thing you must understand is that, even though Tael would take it, Tatl DID NOT like to be pushed. As such, she shoved herself forward and pushed Navi right back, snapping, "He's my partner, you idiot, and the next time you even THINK about touching my little brother I will ram your head through a tree." She then turned back to Link, replying, "We _were_ in Termina, and then we went to the Lost Woods. What happened is that the Skull Kid is completely out of his mind."

"He really is," Tael added, recovering from the shock of being pushed by Navi and ignoring his sisters upfront behavior. "Even worse than the last time you helped with him,"

"He's gone completely beserk!" Tatl went on with her rant, throwing her hands up into the air. "He got all depressed and junk for about a week, then he decided that he needed a name--"

"--he said that he knew his name--"

"--and then he said that it was Majora, because he was Majora's reincarnation, and he went and got the mask--"

"--put it on again--"

"--and now he's going to destroy everything!" Tatl finished angrily. "Link, you and I have to go back, kick his ass, and hopefully knock some sense into him!"

"...Again." Tael added as Tatl finished her lines.

Karin was severely confused by this point, her eyes switching between the fairies. As for Navi and Tatl's little spats, well... It looked to her as though they were going to continue.

Navi pushed Talt back. "Now hold on a minute, wanabe," she snapped. "Link was mine, is mine, and will always be mind. I've been with him since he was ten, and that's a hell of a lot more than you can say, poser!"

Link sighed. This was one reason why he'd been glad that Termina and Hyrule were two different dimensions. No clashing of over-possessive fairies. Shame about that Lost Door deep in the woods. Nila tapped him on the shoulder, and he glanced at her. She handed him a green potion, saying that it would restore his strength. Therefore, ignoring the fairies for a moment, he drank it down and felt better. Energy coursed through his tired limbs, and he felt mostly rejuvenated.

He stopped leaning on Karin and raised an eyebrow at the trio of little glowing lights. "Navi, Talt," he said, snatching each of them in separate hands by the wings. "Calm down both of you. Navi, when you went missing for a bit, I went pretty deep into the Lost Woods looking for you. To make a long story short, I chased a skull kid with a weird mask through a Lost Door into Termina, which is an alternate plane or something. Anyway, there a lot of stuff happened, and Talt insisted on following me around and acting as a fairy partner while we were trying to save Termina from being crushed by a large and rather ugly moon, and find her little brother, Tael."

"Oh, so the moment I was gone, you replaced me!" hissed Navi.

"No! Hey, I never _asked_ to have Talt follow me around. She just did."

OK. So he probably shouldn't have said that, since Talt would be mad at him, but Link really didn't care if any fairies got mad at him. They were fun to argue with, and he knew they'd get over it eventually. Besides, they tended to enjoy it, too.

But Link continued before Talt would have a chance to yell at him, and he looked at Tael, since Tael was less erratic than his sister. "Let me get this straight, then... The Skull Kid thinks he really _is_ Majora, and the mask, therefore, technically belongs to him, or at least it does in his mind. So, he stole the mask from that creepy mask guy, and is trying to destroy Termina? Again?"

Nila, meanwhile, listened with growing worry. Yes, she knew of Termina. And, yes, she'd actually been there once. Gerudo as pirates on the water cracked her up. Anyway, she'd gone there after the three days Link relived at least as many times as Phil from Groundhog Day. And so, she hadn't been witness to the Skull Kid, or his moon. However, she had toured the lovely area, though she spent a fair amount of time in Ikana. Why? Because of a friend. But, we'll speak of that friend later.

Anyway, she wasn' t thinking about that now, but just thinking about what she'd heard from the locals about the kid wearing weird green clothing who'd saved them.

"Hey!" Tatl snapped, wrestling out of his grasp and hitting him upside the head. "I wasn't _acting_, buddy, I _was_. You would have been completely demolished without me anyway! Not to mention clueless! First of all, you didn't understand what the Four Giants were saying, so I translated for you. Second of all, I targeted for you! Without me, Majora would have slaughtered you -- Fierce Deity's mask or not." She glared at him. "He was too fast for you, and you know it. Not to mention that without Tael and I, you would still be a Deku Scrub to this day. Tael gave us that clue about the Four Giants, and again, I targeted so that you could get the Skullkid to drop your ocarina. By the way, you're still stupid kid and a jerk and I still hate you." Now Link, having been around Tatl enough, should have known that this directly translated to, 'I'm glad to see you're okay, and I love ya.' Tatl then, however, turned to Navi.

"And after _you left? _From what I'm hearing, you don't even deserve to be his partner! You _abandoned_ him, and gave the Skullkid the perfect opportunity to turn him into the Deku Scrub! Some partner you are!"

Tael -- still ignoring his sister -- nodded.

"Well, yeah. He thinks he is Majora. And... Erm... It might not be just Termina he's wanting to destroy..." Tael cast his eyes to the ground, then back up at Link, edging closer to the Hero as to avoid getting caught in the middle of Navi and Tatl's fighting. "See... A pirate approached him. Only, this pirate wasn't like the other pirates. This pirate was a boy. And he said... He said..." The fairy closed his eyes, trying to remember. "Oh! He said that the power that the Skullkid wanted couldn't be found in Termina, so once he got finished there, he could come here. To Hyrule." Tael looked at Link with concerned eyes. "I have a really bad feeling about this. Just like I did when Skullkid took the Mask the first time."

Karin cracked her shoulders a bit to get them back into place. She didn't know what was so bad about this pirate, but she also had a bad feeling about it.

Link, indeed having been around Talt, understood her perfectly. "Glad to see you, too, Talt," he said, though his attention wasn't on the two female fairies.

Navi also squirmed from Link's grasp. (it wasn't hard; he wasn't holding them very tightly) She glared daggers at Talt. "I did not LEAVE him voluntarily, unlike you. From what I hear, it seems you abandoned Link and stayed in Termina, where ever the hell that is."

Nila frowned. "The male pirate... Was he really tall, with broad shoulders, gleaming yellow eyes and a really long nose?"

Link gave her an odd look. "You know you're describing Ganondorf, right?"

She nodded. "Yes. So, Tel - isn't it? - Did this male pirate have a name? And did he look like I described?"

"It's Tael," Tael replied, "and yeah, that's him. He was really creepy, too. And then, when Tatl and I tried to stop Skullkid from leaving, he siced _him_ on us..." He then shuddered, creeped out at the thought.

"I didn't leave him," Tatl, meanwhile, snapped at Navi, "And even if I did, it wasn't voluntarily! I was staying with my little brother, because I happen to care about the annoying little brat--"

"Thanks," Tael muttered,

"--and he wanted to stay with Skullkid, who was sick of being abandoned! Besides, when Link was going back here, I _tried_ to stop him, but his damn horse is way too damn fast! So _sorry_ if you took that the wrong way, but it really isn't any of _your_ business, you high-pitched flea wannabe, because he's _my_ partner and Termina, Hyrule, and Tael and I have a really large problem on our hands!" Satisfied, she set her eyes into a glare and folded her arms at Navi.

"He?" Karin asked in response to Tael's question. He nodded, just as a high pitched male voice broke the silence --

"FAIRIES!"

"Holy shit!" Tatl cursed, grabbing Tael. "Here! Hide under here, Tael! I used to always go in there whenever I got tired of flying beside Link..." She stuffed her brother under Link's hat and then turned as Tingle came into the clearing.

"Tingle, Tingle, kooloo limpah!" Tingle cheered, dancing around in a circle and throwing confetti. "I've found my fairies!"

"We are NOT your fairies, you creepy stalker person!" Tatl yelled furiously. "Just leave us alone -- okay!"

"Uh..." Karin was deeply distrubed by Tingle, who looked way too old to be dressed the way he was.

"But Tingle saw you! Tingle saw you in Clock Town!"

"Tingle saw us going to Hyrule to help with a problem! We are with him!" Tatl pointed to Link. "Not you! Quit stalking us! You've been following us around with the Skullkid ever since Link left Termina!"

"Tingle has found Tingle's fairies! Tingle is very--"

"TINGLE HAS FOUND NOTHING!" Tatl shouted at the top of her voice.

Link sighed as Tael was zipped under his hat and as Tingle came into view. Do note that it was not a happy sigh. Navi looked somewhat confused. What was up with this… strange man?

Nila muttered something about Tingle being a creepy stalker Kokori Wannabe, and glared at Tingle with her golden eyes.

Link looked sorely tempted to draw his sword on Tingle. But he resisted the urge. Navi, on the other hand, yanked Link's hat off of his head, saying, "My hat! My head! My bed! Get out!"

"For Din's sake," snapped Link, exasperated with the fairies. "Will you knock it off, already! Both of you have been my partners. Why can't you both just be my partners and have done? Navi, give me my hat back..."

Navi reluctantly let Link take his had back, but the boy didn't put it back on his head. Only now did he really turn his attention to Tingle. "Look, Tingle," he said, voice taking on that lovely tone of infinite patience stretched to its thinnest. "Talt and Tael are not your fairies. And don't you go eyeing Navi, either. And don't you _dare_ try and take any of the fairies in this forest. Fairies CHOOSE their partner, and, since none have chosen you, you have no fairy. And, before you even begin to offer, NO we do not need any bloody maps."

"Yeah!" Tatl shouted, ignoring Navi for the moment. She would deal with Navi later. She still had some of that itching powder that Kotake had made for her... Oh yes... She would deal with Navi later. "What he said!"

"Tingle knows he is not a Kokiri, Mr. Fairy!" Tingle replied, dancing around some more. Karin quirked an eyebrow at the name, but Tingle went on. "But fairy saw these fairies without partners! They are Tingle's fairies! They have been chosen!"

"I HAVE A PARTNER! SO DOES TAEL!" Tatl screamed. "We were not chosen to be your anything! Now go away, you creepy, fairy obsessed, map making, stalking, thirty-five year old wannabe COS-PLAYER!"

"He's thirty-five!" Karin blurted, astonished. Tatl nodded.

"Yeah! And he's a creepy stalker person!"

"Mr. Fairy has lots of fairies!" Tingle was ignoring them now. "Mr. Fairy has Tingle's fairies!"

"I don't like where this is leading..." Karin muttered,

"Tingle will get his fairies now!" Tingle wasn't even paying attention to who he was grabbing. Instead, he managed to grab Tatl and made an attempt for Navi, obviously mistaking her for Tael.

"Look, you fat ugly moron," snapped Navi as she fluttered out of his reach. "A fairy doesn't _have_ to choose a partner. Fairies can and do go solo! That's why the FAIRIES pick who their partner is..."

Tael didn't like his sister being grabbed. "Hey! Let her go! Let my big sister go!" He yelled, and began hitting Tingle.

"Yeah, you jerk!" Karin yelled, and kicked Tingle in the shins. "Let them go!"

Link snapped, "Tingle, for Din, Nayru and Farore's sake, - not to mention yours - leave the fairies the hell alone!"

"TINGLE WANTS HIS FAIRIES!" He yelled suddenly, grabbing Karin and shaking her roughly. "TINGLE WANTS THEM NOW!"

"LET ME GO, YOU FREAK!" Karin yelled, struggling out of his grasp.

Navi picked up a random Deku nut from Link's pouch and chucked it into Tingle's eyes, where it flashed brightly, blindingly, painfully, forcing him to release Karin

"And did I mention that he's been hanging around the Happy Mask Salesman!" Tatl yelled, gasping for air as she was released from Tingle's grasp.

Oh. That explained it. The Happy Mask Salesman. A creep if there ever was one. Link shuddered just thinking about that bipolar freak that really had no business selling masks to children. Even when he'd been in his shop in Castle Town, Link had found him insanely scary.

As soon as Tingle released Karin, an angry screech was heard and a blur came shooting down from the sky. Atreyu grabbed the top of Tingle's hat -- which seemed to have been glued to his head and dragged the fairy-obsessed map seller straight into a tree.

Tingle yelped as his head collided with the bark and Atreyu released him, staying just in front of the map sellers face. He was glaring, which -- considering his fierce and awesome looking hawk eyes -- was actually impressive.

"Look, you ignorant freak," Atreyu snapped, "What you do in your free time is none of my business, and, believe me, I DO NOT want to know, but the next time you go to touch Karin, the only thing that my talons are going to be doing is gouging out your eye sockets." With that, he swooped up and landed on a tree branch.

Grinning at Atreyu, Karin walked over to Tingle, drawing her sword as she did so.

"Hey!" Tael yelped. "Are you really gonna kill him?"

"Yes! Go for it!" Tatl shouted, bobbing around in the air. "Shish-ka-bob that freak!"

The moment she got over to Tingle, though, she did slice her blade down -- and the flat of it collided with his skull. The map seller collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Creep," She muttered, and put her sword away. Tatl seemed disappointed, but she wasn't complaining that Tingle was unconscious.

Nila edged away from the body of Tingle, golden eyes glinting with distaste.

Link glanced around the clearing. "Say, where's Saria?" he asked.

"She stayed back in the Sacred Realm," said Nila.

"Oh."

Link seemed to be considering something for a few moments. Then he looked sidelong at Karin. "You don't have any protection against high temperatures or fire, do you?"

Navi fluttered around Link's head as he put his had back on. "Aw, do we have to go to the Fire Temple next? It's so _hot_ there..."

Link glanced up at Navi. "No, really? It's not like the Temple of _Fire_ is located in a volcano or anything," he said, sarcastically.

"It is?" asked Navi, her tone holding even more sarcasm, if that were possible. Whole buckets of mockery sloshed in her tone. "Well, I never!"

Karin shook her head. "No, not at all." However, her eyes seemed to light up. "We're going to go into a volcano next? Awesome!

Tael nodded. "It's just as well. We can't exactly go into the Termina temples right now, though we need to..."

"You see," Tatl began to fill in. "Skullkid -- after putting on Majora's Mask -- had a tantrum. Remember Kafei and Anju? Well, the Great Fairy in the laundry pool decided to come out of her hole and turned Kafei back into an adult, so they got married. And since they were already married, Skullkid couldn't stop them from getting married, obviously. So he took a fit and put seals on all of the temples. You can't get in."

"And that was when the pirate showed up," Tael added.

"And it gets worse!" Tatl said brightly, smirking. "Remember our Not-So-Happy Mask Salesman? He's looking for you. He went that-a-way." She pointed towards the Kokiri Forest.

"Great." Karin muttered. "More freaks."

Tatl sat on Link's bangs and peered down into his blue eyes with her pale yellow ones. "I say that you go kick his ass, but then, you were never one for beating on him even though he just _loved_ to strangle you. But I do think robbing him might prove useful this time. If what Tael said is right--"

"Which it is," Tael interrupted stubbornly.

"--the Mask Salesman has a bunch of the masks. Plus, he knows where others like the Zora, Goron, and Fierce Deity's Masks are. So, do what you want, but he should be reaching the Kokiri Forest right about now."

"Lovely," said Link upon the news of the Happy Mask Sales man being there. "Let's hope some of his.. um.. issues have been sorted out.."

"Issues?" queried Navi as she perched upon Link's shoulder.

"Nevermind."

Tael sat down beside his sister. "Since you're an adult now, you may look a bit... Strange with the Bunny Hood on, even if it does make you faster."

"Strange? He'll look hilarious!" Tatl replied, cracking up. "But that isn't the point. The point is that the transformation masks will prove dead useful -- just like they did before."

"True," Tael nodded his consent as Atreyu fluttered down to Karin's shoulder.

"Say," said Navi as they began to make their way back towards the Lost Woods. "Didn't the Happy Mask Salesman open a shop in Castle Town for a bit?"

"Yeah, but he wasn't insane then... Just a bad salesman, which is why he made me go out and sell the masks. But, at least he let me use that Gerudo mask.. Oh man, Nabooru's reaction to that was hysterical..."

Link then looked cross-eyed at Tatl and Tael, who were still seated on his bangs. "You know," he said. "In Hyrule, there're Zoras, Gorons, some Deku Scrubs, and a female race rather like the Pirates. However, here, while the Gerudo are thieves, and while they look the same, they aren't pirates, and they're a bit paranoid about water. The reason for that is that they live in a desert... And this 'male pirate' is the King of the Gerudo, although he's not terribly popular among them, and their female leader, Nabooru, refuses to acknowledge him. But, Ganondorf is from the desert..."

Nila walked next to Karin. "Atreyu... What are you exactly? Yes, I can see that you are a hawk, but I mean besides that..."

"I'm a Guardian," Atreyu answered simply. Then, realizing that Nila probably didn't know about all that, which she didn't, went on to explain. "In Westaria, everyone who has potential for combat or magic goes to school. The most prestigious one -- for the most talented, obviously -- and the one where this naive girl went to," he motioned to Karin, who scowled at him. "is Cariaescence. There are eight years there, just like every other school, and the person is either trained as a Healer or a Warrior. Those are, of course, just general categories, and you can mix them."

"Atreyu," Karin warned, "don't start about the different types of magic, now."

"I wasn't going to," He snapped back. "Anyway, once a person completes their training and ends their school career, he or she goes through the graduation ceremony, and the Coming-Of-Age, also known as the Sotsu for females, or the Kakun for males. After that, he or she takes a test, which is different for each individual. This is for a couple of reasons: one, so no one can cheat, and two, to determine the personality of that individual."

Karin gave a large, fake yawn, and Atreyu scowled at her before continuing.

"After that's over, and if he or she passed, he or she is given his or her own Totem, Pendant, whatever you want to call it." He reached down to Karin's neck and pulled up a chain with his beak, showing a circular amulet with words carved into the back in Kanji. It also had a symbol on the front, but it was dropped again before it could be seen clearly. "This allows whoever wears it to summon their Guardian -- or animal spirit, guide, whatever -- for advice, help, or whatever. This will work for others if they have a blood relation to the original wearer, and then only if they have a strong connection."

"So you're a Guardian?" Tael asked. Atreyu nodded.

"Yes, but I'm not her Guardian. She," he motioned to Karin, "never graduated."

"You're a drop-out?" Tatl began laughing. Karin glared at her.

"Yeah. What of it?" She demanded harshly, but Atreyu went on before she could finish.

"I'm actually her brother's Guardian, but she wears his Totem because he wanted her to be protected, and knew that she wouldn't have time to graduate." Atreyu fell silent then after a glance from Karin. It wasn't a glare, just a glance; nothing could even be told from it, probably.

Tatl looked down at Link. "Do you really think the Mask Salesman has resolved his issues? That guy still hasn't managed to find his sanity. I mean, did you see the way Tingle was acting? The HMS is about a thousand times worse by now. He tried to attack Kafei at his wedding."

"And what do you mean the pirates live in the desert? The Gorons are still in the snow, right?" Tael asked.

"No, actually," said Link. "The live on the slopes of a volcano."

"Oh, by the way, Lulu is looking for Mikau. The idiot still hasn't figured out that he's dead," Tatl informed Link. "So you better have that Zora Mask before we go to Great Bay again."

"Hmm," said Nila to Karin. "Sounds somewhat like what the Sheikah do here... Only... We don't have Guardians... and our education does not focus upon magic.. at least not for most of us. Few Sheikah are gifted in magic, but for those of us who are... well.. it depends on how many of us there are. Right now, it's just me and my mother... and so I learned from her, but I'll still have to take the Quisros... Our version of your Sotsu or Kakun, I suppose. Except, that all blood Sheikah take it, warrior or mage. Choosen Sheikah also have their own test, rather like the Quisros, but… I'm not sure what it's like."

She paused, reflecting for a moment. "I envy you that you have actual schools of magic... There must be so much that you can learn! So much more than anyone here knows... well, except maybe the Great Fairies, but they're pretty hard to find, and they refuse to give you a direct answer. Sure, they'll teach you a spell or two, if you've got innate talent and they like you, but they won't teach you _how_ the magic works or anything."

She sighed. "So... Even though you haven't graduated, what sorts of magic do you know?"

Nila knew better than to ask after Karin's brother, such as how he died and whatnot...It was obviously a painful subject.

Navi, meanwhile, gave Tael and Tatl a strange look. "Gorons..? In the snow? Hello! They live on Death Mountain! A fiery volcano! So.. it does snow there and in Kakariko, but... Uh... Not enough for them to live in it..."

Link chuckled softly. "As I said, things are different here than in Termina. The Gorons live as Navi said... The Zoras live behind a waterfall, and travel to Lake Hylia via a really random portal thing... But the pirates aren't pirates here. They're called Gerudo. And they live in a fortress in the desert near the Temple of the Spirit, which is called the Goddesss in the Sand, or something like that. They really don't like men at all, and don't let them into their fortress... And the only reason they tolerate me in their fortress is because they gave me an 'honorary' membership in their ranks."

"That's only because they were impressed by the fact that you were stupid enough to keep trying to fight them, even after they'd beaten the crap out of you forty times..." said Navi.

"Hey! I only lost against the White, or when a bunch of the Purple surrounded me," said Link, defensively. "Otherwise, I beat them every time."

In the meantime, "Well, I'm horrible with magic -- more of a fighter, myself -- but I can heal a bit, and use elemental magic. My best is my trick with my sword. I can charge lightning around it to increase the power behind each strike and momentarily stun my opponent," Karin replied. "It's useful, but unless I've used enough magic before hand to have sort of a warm up, it takes a bit of time to charge."

Nila nodded. "Do you think you could teach me that spell? Lightening is Light, so... I should be able to do it... That would be a terribly useful spell..."

Tatl, meanwhile, smirked. "Yeah, well, the pirates didn't like you either. And they beat the crap out of you too. You had to hide up in the ducts and shoot them with arrows. Then you went around getting Lulu's eggs back... I'm surprised you actually made it through that, actually. I thought you were going to wet yourself every time they popped up behind you."

"Hey," Tael replied, coming to Link's defense. "He was only ten."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Tatl rolled her eyes. "He may be grown up now, but he's still a shrimp to me." She looked down at him again, still holding her smirk. "And after living through all of those days with him, I think I should know."

Link glared up at the two fairies. "I was twelve when I went to Termina," he muttered, irritably. "I was just small for my age. And the perspective's a bit different from when you've the body of an adult or the body of a kid. Gerudo can be downright scary when you're little!"

Navi glared at Talt, but surprisingly, didn't make an insult to Tatl. Instead, she commented to Link. "He was even shorter when he was ten," she said. "And man... You should have seen him when he first learned how to wield a sword. I think any Gerudo or Pirate would have died laughing."

Tatl grinned. "I died laughing when I first saw him anyway. I mean, Goddess, he was pathetic! Normally, Skullkid had to knock someone unconscious to steal from them. He managed to take Link's horse and Ocarina and get away. Not only that, but he turned Link into a Deku Scrub!" At the memory, she started laughing uncontrollably and had to hold onto her brother for support.

Link sighed and muttered, "_You_ trying being a Deku scrub... And then let me see _you_ laughing."

"And twelve, fine, fine. But you were still small." She messed up his hair -- at least, as much as a fairy could, anyway. "But I have to admit, that didn't stop you from kicking some serious ass. Remember the Sea Snakes? That was seriously awesome."

"Sea Snakes?" Tael and Navi asked at the same time. Tatl nodded, her grin growing larger.

"Yeah! See, the pirates had lost some of Lulu's eggs in a Sea Snake nest, and Link -- after putting on the Zora Mask so he wouldn't drown -- dived down in there, killed the giant Sea Snakes, and took the eggs back."

"Awesome! You rock, Link!" Tael cheered enthusiastically.

Karin meanwhile, studied Nila for a moment. "Hmm... I'm not sure... How many rai spells can you do?"

Nila cocked her head to one side. "Rai? You mean lightening spells? Only a couple. I mean, lightening is, after a fashion, light, so… They aren't that hard. But… Rauru didn't know very many lightening spells himself."

At that moment, though, they were interrupted. A dark hooded and cloaked figure suddenly dropped out of the trees, landing right behind Nila, and an argument reached their ears as several people, some familiar, some not, came into view among the trees.

* * *

Authors' Notes:

Snarky: Well, in this case (singular) Author's notes, due to reasons stated in the first portion of the notes.

To reviewers: If you didn't get a reply via the spangly new review reply system or by email, that's because either I forgot about you OR because you left neither email nor a review via your account. Considering that there's not very many of you, though… Chances are it's the latter reason. (( Also, as of the moment I am posting this, I haven't replied to reviews. I'm replying directly after, so… ))


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